Tearing Down, Building Up


2nd Cor 10:4

The weapons with which we fight are not human weapons, but are mighty for God in overthrowing strong fortresses.

Yesterday was the 10th Anniversary of the Saddam statue being toppled. You can get a 1/35th scale statue of it on the web. No fooling. For those longing to have a memorial of the dictator close-by. Saddam was a bad man. There are a lot of bad men in the Middle East. And in the world for that matter.

I recall inititially seeing the statue being pulled down by the American military a decade ago and thinking "Oh no." I considered that if the Iraqi people could not pull down the statue by themselves, nation-building was going to be considerably more difficult that the Bush/Cheney team surmised. Time has shown the Iraqi campaign to be a disaster. Cheney is still unrepentant. Damn him. At least Bush has the good sense to keep his mouth shut about it.

I am by no means a pacifist yet I see the horrible effects of militarism. At best, warfare should be a last resort and repugnant. Not gleefully bearing the sword but instead with tears. A lot of Christians have been the most dependable constituency of the Neo-Conservatives visions of remaking the world in our image and it is time to say enough. No to Israel, no to the Arabs states we sell arms to. It is not our fight and we had be quite reluctant putting ourselves in the middle of ancient animosities that neither side shows an inclination to abandon.

Christians had better be particularly careful as many of us through our tithing escape a good chunk of paying federal taxes. If you want to be war-like and use the Gospel to justify military misadventures, at least have the integrity to foot the bill. And, this pertains to domestic issues also.

The Gospel does have a component of tearing down idols. Yet the means are by persuasion and not compulsion. I think Matthew Henry says it well:

Outward force is not the method of the gospel, but strong persuasions, by the power of truth and the meekness of wisdom. Conscience is accountable to God only; and people must be persuaded to God and their duty, not driven by force. Thus the weapons of our warfare are very powerful; the evidence of truth is convincing. 

When we use worldly means to destroy don't be surprised when it baffling to rebuild the rubble. Our means of destruction are directly related to our methods of construction.      

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shake the Dust: Anis Mojgani

Pslam 90:2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." I am not real certain where Anis Mojgani comes from belief-wise. Cats like him tend to be synchrestic spiritually rather than Christ-centered. Yet, this poem captures the spirit of Jesus. What this poem also needs is grace....we shake off sin and mortality and take on Christ and immortality. This is for the fat girls This is for the little brothers For the former prom queen And for the milk crate ball players This is for the school yard wimps And the childhood bullies that tormented them Shake the dust. This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them. This is for the bus drivers driving a million broken hymns And for the men who have to hold down 3 jobs, Simply to hold up their children. For the nighttime schoolers And for the midnight bike riders trying to fly Shake the dust. For the two year olds who cann
Read more

White Shoes, White Stones

Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it. (ASV) With the white stone mentioned above in the Scripture verse, "And will give him a white stone" it is "Supposed that by the white stone is meant pardon or acquittance, and the evidence of it; and that there is an allusion here to the custom observed by judges in ancient times, who were accustomed to give their suffrages by white and black pebbles; those who gave the former were for absolving the culprit, those who gave the latter were for his condemnation." (Clarke) What has brought about this essay was my purchasing the other day of some very white and new Nike jogging shoes. My old pair of Nike's have been worn down. I was developing serious pain in my feet which is a solid sign that it is t
Read more

Going Rogue: Dare, Risk, Dream

Image
I picked up a bumper sticker at a Pub recently from the Rogue Brewery . On it there are the words: DARE, RISK, DREAM. Typically, the word Rogue is a negative term. I will let you decide if Sarah Palin and her book has made the word less or more so. Initially, I taped the bumper sticker to my computer lap top with the backing still on it in case I wanted to remove it. Just a second ago, I committed fully, and pulled the backing off and affixed it to my Dell. No turning back. Is that not an illustration of how to accomplish great things? We have to stick and commit. If we go taping ourselves to the backs of things, it leads to easier removal but also to tepid efforts. Now, if I take this bumper sticker off the back of my lap top it is going to be a mess...I am all in. Consequences be damned. My summer vacation officially began today at noon (why else would I be blogging at 3:26 am?) and my creed for the summer is DARE, RISK, DREAM. A Kerouac quote to light the fireworks... "Great th
Read more