Praying for Enemies
I learned a lot about life in 1991, though I didn’t know it at the time. Lance was my roommate that year, my freshman year at university on the windy side of Texas. Our country was in the middle of the transition from Operation Desert Shield to Operation Desert Storm. Suddenly the little country of Kuwait was our national focal point, our protectorate. SCUD missile reports, Patriot missile defense systems and images of burning oil rigs were our daily diet. “Smart bomb” video images were our nightly entertainment as we fooled ourselves into believing that no Iraqi civilians were being harmed (sources say somewhere between 2,000 – 3,500 civilians were killed). And in the midst of all of this, looking back, I did not care. I did not care at all.
But Lance… Lance cared. I clearly remember the concern on his face as he discussed the conflict. Lance was a college boy like me but he seemed to understand that this war had far-reaching consequences (we didn’t know just how far-reaching at the time) and it disturbed him deeply… like in his soul. At the time I really thought he was blowing it all out of proportion. Why was he so worked up about a war so far away? His response was pretty simple: he was a Christ-follower.
My views on peace and war have changed dramatically since 1991. So much has happened to us, to our friends, to our enemies and to those in the margins. A few years down the road I understand better how “shields” often turn into “storms” which turn into “shock and awe.” And that’s the way it goes: aggression, defense, escalation, retribution, aggression. Every nation is susceptible to this cycle, the hungry animal of war and violence.
Jesus knew the cycle well and he drew that animal out in the open where we could all see it clearly for what it really is, suicide. The powers and authorities of his day played their role well. But Jesus, instead of reacting on queue with retribution (the whole 10,000 angels thing) he answered simply with this, “Father, forgive them because they’re ignorant.” (my paraphrase). And in that moment Jesus was the first of a new sort of person who followed a new code, a code he prophesied a few years earlier when he said to love your enemies and pray for them. Soon after that a guy named Stephen did the same thing. Pioneers of a new way that Jesus called his Kingdom.
I do not aspire to be a martyr, not at all. But I do know I should pray for and love my enemies no matter where they happen to have been born (Jesus’ term was “neighbor”). And I think most of us can get our arms around this idea no matter what our political leanings. Next month our country may name a new group of “bad guys” and we can pray for them too I guess. But we should pray and love. And in time we may even care about wars far away as much as we care about our own families. And as Christ-followers we can begin to care less about flags and more about real people who have been made in the image of the same God. Thanks, Lance.
-Russ
May 1, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Russ,
This is a powerful and compelling post. Glad to have been in your sphere (Starbuck’s) as you finished penning it.
I was a high school junior or senior when Desert Storm began. I received a call from a friend who was headed to West Point when the bombs began falling. He said excitedly, “We are at war.” It was exciting then, maybe it’s less so now; 5 years after ‘Mission Accomplished.’ I’m not necessarily making a comment about this war — as you are not — but rather all wars. In all wars people created in the image of God kill other people created in the image of God, and that must be terrible saddening to the Creator.
It’s sad for the soldier’s too.
When I began at ACU my RA had just left the Army after serving in Iraq. Some guys on our floor asked — excitedly — if he had killed anyone. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t want to talk about it.” The look in his eyes betrayed the answer though. Yes, he had killed and it was killing him. I saw the same look about a year and half after the Iraq war began when I met a 19-year old who was from a friend’s youth group and had recently come home from the Iraq. There was a lifelessness behind his eyes. I wanted to grab him, hug him and not say, “We’re proud of you for serving,” but rather “Thank you for sacrificing so we can be reminded why it is better to love than hate, to be taken advantage of rather than to take advantage of, and why it’s better to love your enemies.”
May 2, 2008 at 7:43 am
Great post Russ. So, here is my question (and I really struggle with this). What amount of responsibility to we have, as Christ followers, to proclaim in the community of faith the sentiment you just expressed, knowing that it will upset many people in the church? I ask this writing from a military town. I don’t question whether I believe what you said. I do. My quandary is whether we (or especially myself) are faithful to the gospel when we remain silent about war and enemy-love because of political correctness or reluctance to upset people. I don’t mean we should be mean or condemning, but should we proclaim more boldly the way of peace, love and reconciliation in a world consumed by strife, hate and division, even if it means people (including our friends possibly) might walk away from us?
May 2, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Derran,
A good and honest question. I can tell you that from my perspective, I have waited way too long to write this post. I have cared too much about caution and too little about courage. So this post is as much a confession as it is a proclamation. And my guess is that many of you reading this thing feel the same way. Those of us who follow a suffering Christ who was “too alive” to stay dead for long… need to step up now. 5 1/2 years of silence about what is going on in Iraq is long enough.
As for living in a military town… I live in one of the most militarized cities in the States (they make movies about us). This calls for a lot of love and care when it comes to this topic because I have many friends in the military and parents of military. What I respect most about the military is their deep dedication to things like honor, courage and authority. These same characteristics are desperately needed in the Kingdom of God to promote peace. What we have failed to do (as Christians) is to show creatively how these characteristics are required and flourish within the Kingdom of God.
June 5, 2008 at 6:54 am
Russ I don’t know you…but you are an ‘awesome’ person of God!!! I’m crying as I read your posts. My prayers are for you in your journeys across the globe and how you represent Christ in all that you say and do. May God richly bless you and your family. Keep the faith!