The War Rages On – Confronting Torches and Hoods
In the modern era of warfare, there is much discussion of “winning
the hearts and minds” of those we engage in combat. This objective gets mixed reviews, and is
sometimes met with annoyance by those who are more focused on the less
ambiguous objective of “closing with and destroying the enemy.” Nevertheless, as a preacher of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ who “no longer studies [the making of] war,” in the military sense
at least, I find that the Bible has much to say about conflicts being resolved in
those very places. The Bible presents
strong evidence that the seeds for conflicts are fertilized for germination in
the hearts and minds of people.
Jesus declared that the act of murder incubates in a mind
consumed with anger. A major Biblical theme argues that it is the ill-intentioned,
misdirected, driving passions of humans that lead to conflict, quarrels and destructive
pursuits. This has been the human
condition since The Garden. Nevertheless,
from the Beginning, God has invited humans to seek Him out and to embrace the
Way that leads to a transformation of one’s life pursuits through the renewing of
one’s mind.
Our nation’s struggle with this renewal manifests itself
regularly in issues of race. This struggle flares up repeatedly to the point of
producing violent clashes in the streets in every generation. The conflicts and
challenges have not only multiplied, but intensified and grown in
complexity. The sweet tastes of victory
we have celebrated with great joy, seem woefully naïve upon reflection in the present
day. The true source of these conflicts
and challenges must be understood to be overcome on any meaningful level.
In pursuit of such understanding, as the Apostle Paul
addresses his Sisters and Brothers in Rome on how to conduct themselves issues
of human interaction in Romans chapters 12 leading with two primary guiding
commands: “Stop being conformed to the pattern of thinking utilized by
everybody else in the world.” Rather, “Be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
One cannot carry out the New Commandment issued by Jesus with the Old
Patterns of thinking dominating one’s mind.
The act of transformation Paul demands generally does not occur in
rallies or marches but is forged in the kiln of committed friendships and
nurtured in the solitude of prayerful contemplation. As this transformation takes place, it is
solidified by the casting of applied action in real life, real time.
The conflicts we are experiencing are not an accident and
should not be a surprise.
While U.S.
culture celebrated unity in 60’s Coke commercials, 70’s Discos and 80’s appeals
for peace – all “good things” on the surface, we laughed at racially charged
jokes, used racial epithets behind closed doors and subtly nurtured stereotypes
about friends and neighbors under the guises of “street smarts and reality.” In the process, we fell into a self-made trap
of complacency, relying heavily on symbolic gains while neglecting to secure, reinforce
or protect those gains with lifestyles and out-of-sight behavior that
reinforced the strides toward unity we believed we had made. We failed to follow through with the gains
achieved, because meaningful follow-through requires on-going risk-taking,
unceasing work, and a willingness to be vulnerable over and over again. As humans, we just don’t want to put in such
a significant amount of effort and our laziness has produced a crop well
integrated with weeds.
A dissuading aspect of the solution to the challenges of
pursuing racial unity is, there is no easy way. Every generation will either
contribute to unity and building understanding by laboring in the garden of
loving one’s neighbor, or else abdicate the harvest to the unrelenting weeds of
apathy, laziness or selfishness. Marches
and symposiums cannot replace conversations and meals. Lawsuits, boycotts and shaming cannot replace
dialog, forgiveness and reaching across the fence to truly seek to understand
my close by, but very different neighbor.
Real life, unlike sitcoms and inspirational movies, doesn’t end with “happily
ever after” but rather constantly reboots with, “so they kept on trying!”
For that reason, I am not panicked by the events of the
week, though I am troubled by them. While bothered by them and while shaking my
head in sadness, I do not widen my eyes in surprise. Since becoming fully engaged in the battle
for truth and beauty after becoming a Jesus follower, I have never ceased to
understand that we are at war! It is a
war for hearts and minds. It is a war for the souls of people. It is a war that goes beyond what can be
seen, invading the hidden trenches of thoughts, ideas and convictions. Such a war must be fought perpetually, with spiritually
powerful weapons, and physically manifested with real life, real time application
day in and day out until our change has come.
For this reason, brothers and sisters, I call you not to
protest or resist, but rather to fight with your face to all enemies of truth
and beauty. The Apostle Paul issues the “war
cry” in this way,
“For though we live in the
world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons
of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We
demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5.)
The scope of the
effort expected of those who follow Jesus is extensive – taking on every pretentious,
ungodly lie, and disciplining ourselves by reigning in every thought and
submitting it to the standards of Jesus.
Our application of efforts must be unwavering in intensity and consistency
and untarnished in purity and commitment to goodness. Such effort may cause us to be misunderstood
and even vilified by those choosing an alternate path. I humbly remind you that while other paths
may appear at a glance to be more satisfying and offer easier solutions to the
challenges we face, the Scripture warns, “There is a way that There is a path
before each person that seems right, but it ends in death” (Proverbs 14:12.)
A major point that must be clearly understood in waging the
war for truth is enemy identification.
Those holding opposing views in the battle for truth are not the
enemy! The Scripture says, “… we are not
fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and
authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and
against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12.) We are warned
rather to watch out “your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a
roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8.) Jesus stated that part of His mission – and ours
– is one of rescue:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has
anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be
released,
that the
blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the
time of the Lord’s favor has come
For this reason, we should approach those in opposition to
righteousness not as enemy combatants, but rather as brainwashed POW’s,
suffering from spiritual “Stockholm Syndrome,” powerfully under the influence
of the enemy, but desperately needing liberation from captivity. Therefore, let us not seek to strike down
those who are bound in ignorance, but rather attack the “speculations and lofty
arguments” that originate from the enemy himself. Rather, let us steadfastly follow
the new and living way Jesus has prepared for us, embracing the difficulty,
looking past the ridicule that often accompanies righteous living and pressing
on armed with love, perseverance and truth.
Let us not grow weary in doing good, being overcome by evil, but let us
endure and press on, overcoming evil with good!
This is a war that will not soon end.
Therefore let us renew our resolve, focus our efforts and start knocking
down the pretentious and speculations continuing to fight the good fight until
our last breath or until our change has come.
