On the Brink of War: Finding a Distinctive Christian Voice

David P. Gushee, Ph.D. - Graves Professor of Moral Leadership & Senior Fellow of the Carl F.H. Henry Center for Christian Leadership

The full power of the government is now directed to destroying the terrorist network responsible for the slaughter visited upon us two weeks ago. War may be imminent. What does Christian faith have to say about all this?

The just war tradition is worth revisiting. It is an important aspect of Christian moral teaching. This ancient Christian theory argues for the legitimacy of national self-defense through war in cases that meet carefully scrutinized criteria. At its root is the view that the God-given vocation of government is to provide for public order and justice, in part by deterring and punishing domestic and foreign wrongdoers.

Just war theory argues that it would be an abdication of its calling for a government to fail to defend its nation or its citizenry from mortal threats like the one we face. It also argues that Christians are obligated not just to tolerate but to support just wars. In these ways it helps stiffen both our Christian and our national spine.

This tradition also imposes constraints upon governments as they fight legitimate wars. The tradition requires the right intention (not vengeance, but peace), the right goals (not mayhem, but justice and security), the right means (sufficient and proportionate force, not more), the right groundrules (combatants only may be targeted, not civilians) and the right spirit (not pleasure at a positive good, but mournfulness about a necessary evil). There can be no holy war, no thirst for revenge, no pleasure in killing, no indiscriminate attacks.

And yet a question remains: is this all there is to the Christian witness at a time like this? Are we as Christians content merely to bring out the just war theory and then sit back and watch the bombs fall?

There is the nagging problem of the life and teachings of Jesus. A Savior and Lord who undertook his mission without recourse to violence. Who said that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Who argued that peacemakers are blessed, and taught ways to be a peacemaker. Whose presence in the world was not as a partisan ready to kill for a cause but instead a suffering servant ready to die for one. Who taught love of enemies and overcoming evil with good. Who wept over Jerusalem and lamented that she did not know the things that make for peace. Who was captured by the vision of another kingdom coming, in and through himself, to replace the sorry kingdom we now live in.

If the witness of Jesus is anything more than dreamy idealism, or puzzling hard sayings that we simply bracket off from public life, then his followers must be marked by the impact of his words and witness even now, even in the cauldron of grief and anger that now grips our nation.

Christians will think differently. We will be aware that violent hatred is rarely eliminated by force. We will ask questions about how to make life better in the places where hatred of our nation currently breeds. We will listen to those who can offer insights about how we are perceived by those who despise us.

Christians will be willing to offer government leaders alternative policy solutions. We will remember that every human being is made in the image of God, even our enemies. We will never become calloused to the tragedy of war. We will transcend a narrowly nationalistic vision.

Even as we support a legitimate war waged by legitimate means, we will pray for those who are on the receiving end of our nation’s military force. We will weep over the destruction that all warfare causes. And we will yearn for the coming in fullness of the reign of God, when every tear is finally wiped away, and no one–at last–shall hurt or destroy anyone else.

Also appeared as a Baptist Press First Person