Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
What’s wrong with the left ditch?
Now, there’s little doubt that America’s political and military leaders made a multitude of mistakes handling the Vietnam War. Countless books have been written on the subject.
And yes, the American Church as a whole sat on its prophetic trumpets and did little to proclaim that our leaders were steering the nation in wrong directions.
And yes, the Body of Christ needs pacifists. We need every individual part working properly so the Body is being built up in love.
But we individual parts of the Body, pacifists and others, tend to wear blinders when we check out our agendas (political or otherwise) with the Bible, especially when fervent motions are involved.
Sadly, this is what I believe happened to the Christians who ended up in the left ditch during the Vietnam War.
The thinking that God hates all wars, Jesus is against all wars and all wars are sin is scripturally wrong from a New Testament viewpoint, and of course, from an Old Testament one.
Where did the first war occur? In heaven.
And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war. (Revelation 12:7)
If the Lord is totally against war, why didn’t He have a peace conference with Satan? You know, just to clear the air and thereby listen to Satan and his group’s grievances. Maybe a compromise could have been worked out. But no, there was war!
What restrictions did Jesus place on the centurion when the soldier asked for a miracle for his servant? None.
And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment. (Matthew 8:13)
Most likely, the centurion had earned his rank in battles. And thus if war were sin, then Jesus would have said much the same thing He did to the woman caught in adultery and the man lowered down through the roof tiles. He would have first pardoned the soldier’s sin.
Did the man who was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb mention war when he was asked what soldiers needed to do? No.
Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages. (Luke 3: 14)
Just think, John the Baptist said his words in front of numerous Jews who hated the Roman soldiers. Maybe some of the Jews had even lost relatives or friends in battles with the soldiers. Yet, not one word was mentioned about war.
Who leads the armies of heaven? Jesus.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. (Revelation 19:11)
How many times did Jesus mention war was a sin? Never. Zero. Nada. Zilch. To make war a sin, you have to extrapolate meanings out of a few verses and ignore hundreds of others throughout the Bible.
What about the early church? The first century church with Peter, John, James and Paul made no claims that war was sin. A hundred years later, Augustine came up with his Just War Theory but even he and the other church fathers did not oppose war in all circumstances.
There is absolutely no scriptural evidence that God hates all wars, Jesus is against all wars and all wars are sin. The Christians in the left ditch staked out an extreme position and were deceived.
So, what was wrong with the right ditch?
(Continued in Part 6)
Larry Who 