War and Peace ...

Wednesday, Dec 17, 2014. Yesterday 100 children have been killed in a school in Pakistan. The day before we had a killing in a Cafe in Sydney. There are killings daily in the Ukraine - in a war between Russian separists and the Ukrainean state. But this is only the top of the iceberg! How many people die day by day by war and hunger without international media coverage!

Terrible Events and the Call to Peace …

All these events are terrible. People in wars loose all natural instincts to keep kids save and healthy. People in this ideological war loose all mechanisms which hold them on a reasonable path. And all this is embedded in a larger spiritual war - one which has been going on ever since.

Jesus calls us to peace. He calls us to actions and thoughts which fully search peace with the people around us, with our neighbors, with our friends and even our enemies. We cannot ignore this strong call to peace. We are called to do things which help peace.

But the New Testament also fully supports a world in which law and order is established and kept. The role for police power and even for military power is there - it is given to the states. Those in power in the states have the responsibility to establish good laws and to make people follow. This does not fit into the wars we see at the moment. And it does not tell you how to deal with suppression and dictatorships, with groups throwing over government and with the so-called Islamic state at the moment.

We need to pray! …

The current situation is moving me strongly. How do you deal with these groups of people, who kill others in a cruel way. I would call them “completely deceived” and “misled” by ideas, by their ideology, and by spiritual forces which we barely know. Is there any other way than using military power? At this point, a clear “no other way” seems the only conclusion.

At the same time we need to be very careful about our measures and steps. Military power can easily lead to more death, to higher death tolls. We do not want to use it, we want to do things which build stable relationships. We want reason, we want music, we want cultural and economic exchange! We want people to leave in peace with each other, every single one of them!

Jesus warned us, that wars would not end, until the end of everything. But he also called us to prayer for it. We are able to make a significant impact! So we should pray, continuously pray and seek his guidance, and at the same time in and through this use our reason and our knowledge to do the best we can to work towards peace. (RWEP) ... more texts