I recently read an email forward with the following claim: "The only people who were willing to die for you were Jesus Christ and the American G.I." Despite the forward's obligatory promises of good fortune if I passed it on and the threats of great calamity if I failed to, I did not pass it on for I find the statement extremely problematic.
In the first place, I just don't think it is true. I would like to think that I have a few friends and family members who would be willing to die for me. I believe that I am willing to die for them should the occasion arise. I do not say this out of pride and sincerely hope it is not taken that way; I say it out of the change wrought in me by Christ. For his definition of love and friendship is nothing short of this: "This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:12-13; "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." -1 John 3:16. If it is true that the only people willing to die for me other than Christ are American G.I.s, than only American G.I.s have fully understood the radical love Christ witnesses to. This is hard for me to believe for many reasons, not the least of which is the simple fact that not all American G.I.s are Christians.
The second, and more compelling, reason that I did not send the forward on is that I think the comparison between the work of Jesus and the work of an American soldier is a horrible one which severely misunderstands (at best) or undermines (at worst) the Gospel message. After all, the soldier rushes to war with a gun, killing all those who did not happen to be born in America. The soldier does all he can to stay alive and if it is between he and another guy (particularly the enemy), it is going to be the enemy who dies. These are the brutal facts of war and no one blames the soldier for this type of mentality - this is the job his country has asked him to do.
The work of Jesus was completely different. Jesus came peaceably, preaching a gospel of peace and restoration and freedom (from sin) for all people, not just those who happened to be born in a specific geographical location (and certainly not only for Americans). Jesus preached the turning of the other cheek, the walking of the extra mile, the loving of one's enemies. When he was called upon to fight, he refused and chastised his disciples for defending him with the sword. And he healed the ear of the very man who came to arrest him. He submitted to immense suffering and death, never once striking back. In short, he lived and modeled his gospel of peace and displayed for us the only true means toward restoration. The only comparison which is merited is the Christian martyr who willingly dies for being a follower of Christ (which continues to happen throughout the world), or perhaps the person who dies on behalf of a friend. Which if you remember, Christ expects of us all.
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Thanks, Jackson, for excellent food for thought. The statement "The only people who were willing to die for you were Jesus Christ and the American G.I."
was probably read by many with a thoughtful nod of the head, even if they knew that any comparison would ofcourse break down before too much scrutiny. I may have even nodded my head, although I surely didn't pass it on, perhaps because I was uneasy with the comparison of Jesus to a warrior.
But one thing that did NOT occur to me was the fact that perhaps there ARE people in my family, in my church, in my small circle of good friends who, out of love for me and love for Jesus, might willingly die protecting me. I know most any parent would certainly say that concerning their child, whether small or grown. And then don't forget the local police, who die protecting strangers. But you are so right, you must put on one side of the page the ones who would make such a sacrifice because they love as Christ loves us, and on the other side the ones who would die protecting because that is the job they have been called to. Interesting.
I do want to add though, that I AM certainly thankful for people whose jobs call them to protect me -- such as the G.I., the police, firefighters who risk their lives, etc.
What other such statements can you think of that sound nice and platitudiness (I either made that word up or horribly misspelled it) but quickly break down after giving it a second thought? There's some other food for thought, not that you don't already have enough to think about! MomK
Unfortunately these types of statements are everywhere. "If its meant to be it will happen" is an extremely common one. Sounds good, but what does it mean? Are we fatalists? Do we think that the events of this world move on like a train and we are powerless to stop them or change them? Incongruent with the free beings created in the image of God that we are.
Email forwards are rife with such statements. What always kills me are the forwards which have a nice message about the love or care or providence of God and then at the end warn you that if you don't pass them on, you will be met with some terrible luck! How does such a statement jive with the God that the message just described.
Others that get me are those calling on Christians to pray for America. I know that I might take some heat for this, but I am just convinced that this is the wrong prayer. We need to be praying for the church in the world, that she would be empowered to witness to the love of God. And don't we as Christians realize that we have more in common with the Palestinian Christian than with the American athiest? Yet we often think that our national bonds are stronger than our Christian bonds - this type rhetoric is everywhere and it betrays the deeper conviction that we are Americans before we are Christians. I think this is a profound misread of the Gospel and I never pass along anything with that message.
Can you think of any such phrases?
"In the first place, I just don't think it is true. I would like to think that I have a few friends and family members who would be willing to die for me. I believe that I am willing to die for them should the occasion arise."
I would like to think that I am one of those people...one that would die for you (and/or Julie) and one for whom you (and/or Julie) might die. That's the kind of koinonia we have with each other...so thankful. That's not something you can just make happen, you know...
I also think that a willingness to "die" for another person involves more than just physical death. We are a selfish people and are unwilling to make even the smallest sacrifices anymore. When asked, we will quickly say we are willing to die for each other (that just seems like the "right" answer), but too often our lives say otherwise. Nevermind the fact that God asks us to apply this to our enemies...
Hey Jackson,
Doesn't Paul tell us to pray for those in authority, what I mean is, is praying for America wrong, or is it the way we pray for America? Most prayers for America go along the lines of "God Bless us" which I would agree are very ethnocentric, however to pray that our leaders would act in accordance with God's will, that they would strive to do God's will (whether they realize it or not) I think are very appropriate for the good of society. I would want American Christians to pray in this way as much as other Christians in other countries to pray for their leaders in such a way. If Christians are the priesthood of God in the world, should not part of our prayers plead for those communities in which we find ourselves in that God's presence would be released in those communities and larger socieities? An example of what I mean is the new interest in William Wilberforce, who used his Christian convictions to end slavery in England, Wilberforce's friends would gather three times a day to pray that God would use them as godly examples in Parliament to bring slavery to an end. Anyhow hope I haven't rambled too much (probably need to go to bed) but would love to hear your thoughts.
Hey Matt-
I was referring to the "way" that America is normally prayed for. If you listen or read the prayers, they normally speak of America as a community or family that we are asking God to prosper, and often times this prosperity will come at the expense of some other countries. These are not appropriate prayers for Christians in our mind because we are Christians first and our allegiance is to the church. The church exists throughout the world and therefore our prayer for prosperity and protection ought not to be for our country but for the church (our true community) in the world, many of whom die daily.
I agree with you that we need to pray for our leaders as prescribed by Paul. However, this verse is often used to substantiate a position that says we go along with our leaders no matter what they do because they are placed their by God and must, therefore, be doing the will of God. I disagree with this statement. We need to pray for our leaders and pray for discernment on when to not follow them. Certainly Paul would not have gone along with 3/4 of what the Roman empire did.
Your Wilberforce example is perfect - the leaders (who had supposedly been placed there by God)had condoned and continued slavery. Wilberforce and others recognized that this was contrary to the Word of God. Thus, he fought for change - but even here Wilberforce was, in my opinion, acting more as a Christian than as a statesman of England.
Often times Christians blindly vote for anyone who calls themselves a Christian. But we must ask ourselves, are the policies and views of this leader in line with the Gospel? It is, sometimes, the so called Christian leaders who act the most decisively unChristian.
Our law as members of the church is the Gospel. And this is the law that must govern our lives. When the law of the land (or the policies of the land) are in line with the Gospel, Christians follow. But when the law of the land opposes the Gospel than we must resist - peaceably of course. :)
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