There’s an aspect of the U.S. military’s actions overseas that is continually hidden by proponents of military participation: the cost in human lives in other countries. When discussing the sacrifices of war, so many Christians in America focus on our soldiers and their families. They are to be considered, naturally, but so are the tens of thousands of people affected by those wars we fight. (It’s extremely difficult to get good numbers on that. I have been chastised for referring to the site Iraq Body Count, but the material released by WikiLeaks has shown that, if anything, that site is conservative in its counting.)
One reason that 9/11 impacted this country in such a strong way was the fact that it happened on American soil. We’ve worked hard throughout the years to keep all fighting limited to somebody else’s home, not ours. This morning on the news, as the proposed reduction of troops in Afghanistan was being discussed, people expressed the fear that the fighting might come here. “Better to fight them over there” has always been a popular slogan.
As Christians, I think we’re obligated in such a situation to consider those who live “over there.” Consider the Afghani people. In the late 1970s, the Soviets became involved in Afghanistan as military advisers. The U.S. saw the chance to lure the Soviets into a military quagmire, so operations were undertaken to escalate the fighting in Afghanistan. Once the Soviets invaded, the U.S. began arming Afghani warlords to fight the Soviets (When asked about the dangers, Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser, responded “What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?”). When that war came to an end, these armed strongmen continued to dominate the regions where they lived. Then after 9/11, the United States invaded, fighting against many of the same people we had helped arm and train. And throughout it all, the civilian population suffered destruction of property, serious injury and death.
When we speak of sacrifice, do we think of those people? Do we consider the mothers who lost sons, the children who lost parents, the villagers who lost everything? Where are their parades? Who raises memorials in their honor? Where are the churches that send them care packages and stand and clap for them during worship?
But they’re not “our people.” No, of course not… unless you’re a Christian. Unless you believe that there is no “Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free.” Then, of course, those people are as much “our people” as any freckle-faced American soldier.
On Memorial Day, I was accused of not honoring the sacrifice of those who have lost loved ones in war. I respond that I honor many more of those people than do those who march down Main Street and salute the flag.
When we count the costs of war, let’s count all the costs of war.
Why, in Galatians and Colossians, does Paul modify those statements with “in Christ?”
He doesn’t just say, “There’s no longer male and female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free.” He says that “In Christ” those things are true. What does he mean? I’ve been trained for years to believe that it means he’s limiting their meaning to “access to the gospel.”
If I understand you correctly, you think he’s using “in Christ” as a quick way of saying, “Now that the Messiah has come, now that all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Him.” That has FAR broader implications… does Paul always mean that when he says, “In Christ?”
You’ve given me a lot to think about – don’t let me drown here! :)
Nick,
I’m not ready to redefine the meaning of “in Christ” in every instance. Not even sure that I want to redefine it in this instance. What you are saying fits the context of Galatians, but I don’t know that it does that of Colossians. (also note that “in Christ” isn’t in the Colossian passage) In Colossians, Paul is saying that none of the old ways of defining people apply. Now everything is defined in terms of Christ, not in terms of nationalities. That’s why he could feel free to interact with Jews and Greeks alike.
Even using the concept from Galatians, our relationship to other people is seen through the lens of being in Christ or not. That means an Iraqi Christian is more “our people” than a non-Christian U.S. soldier.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
In Colossians 1.4-5, Paul speaks about hearing of the church’s “faith in Christ Jesus” which along with their love has come about “because of the hope” (δία τὴν ἐλπίδα). In other words, their faith is an eschatological faith lived in the sphere of Christ so that the future of God’s redemptive goal is present in the community of believers (see Marianne Meye Thompson, “Colossians and Philemon,” The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005, 20-21.). This is one reason why in the church there is neither Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For the Christian worldview, shaped by the gospel, is that of redeemed creation.
So one of the outcomes related to this discussion is the false, illogic, and dualistic nature of having one sphere of life “in the church” where there are no distinctions between nations, ethnicities, genders, etc… and a life “in the real world” where we acknowledge such distinctions and live by them. That is a dualistic faith and as far as I can tell, a false faith in Christ. While Afghan families (among other nationalities) may not “in Christ”, we still are and so as followers and believers in Jesus, we ought not to be living as though we are Americans and they are of another nationality. Instead we ought to be living as though the future of God’s redemption is present (as it ought to be among Christians) which, in part, means being concerned for the welfare of all creation as God is (rather than just creation living on “American” soil).
So I’m trying to explain something of the cosmic reality (and it’s ethical implications) that God brings about in Jesus Christ which is still mind boggling to me in many ways but I hope I have made sense.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
AMEN!