Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, is war an answer for persecution? This is prompted by an article I read in the New York Times, which was looking at the Trump administration's, hinting around that they might pursue military action in Nigeria because of the level of persecution that Christians there are facing. So, if you don't know this, Nigeria right now is a hotbed for persecution of Christians. Boko Haram and other militant Muslim groups are really sweeping through all of the West Africa, but in Nigeria in particular, killing Christians in droves simply because they're Christians. They're actually also, by the way, killing Muslims who are not their kind of Muslims. A lot of religious persecution is happening, and President Trump is not happy about it and, in fact, is hinting that if Nigeria can't get control of it, perhaps the United States should take military action there to get involved and stop it from happening, particularly even to targeting parts of the Nigerian government that are incapable, unwilling, or unable to deal with the problem. This is an interesting concept because it begs the question for Christians, how do we think about a president who's paying attention to the persecution of Christians, even up to the point of threatening violence as an answer? So let me offer a way of thinking about this. I think that that's informed by the Bible. Let's start here. I do think we should be exposing the persecution of Christians now. I also think, by the way, we should be exposing the persecution of all political and religious groups. No one should be in fear of violence because of what they believe. That's a core concept of the United States. I think that's a core biblical concept. People are owed a certain amount of protection simply because they're made in the image of God, no matter what it is they believe. But as a Christian, I'm particularly interested in exposing those who persecute the church. In Ephesians 5:11, Paul says to expose the works of darkness. That's what President Trump is doing. I'm grateful for that. Is that he's saying, hey, is anyone paying attention to what's happening in Nigeria? Does anyone care that Christians are being killed in droves? I care. I'm paying attention, and I'm glad he is. Now, having said that, we have to reject, of course, violence as a solution. I mean, Jesus says to Peter and Matthew 26:52, when they come to Arrest Jesus himself, a victim in that moment of religious persecution. He tells Peter, put your sword away. He's telling him, we're not going to do it that way. The church has never been called to fight back against its enemies with physical violence. Sometimes we've been told to run the opposite direction. We've never been told to, to fight back. Don't forget that Jesus said to love our enemies. The Bible tells us to pray for our enemies first. Peter tells us to desire our enemies to become brothers and sisters in Christ, to become fellow worshipers on the day that Jesus comes back. Hard for them to do that if we're killing them. President Trump is campaigning, I think, for support of Christians by saying, hey, look, I'm paying attention to your brothers and sisters who are being killed. It matters to me who. But he's going too far in calling for the death of those who perpetrate it. Listen, protection, ultimately in the Bible for those that are persecuted comes from God. Psalm 99 says, the Lord is a refuge. I don't mean that we don't pay attention. I don't mean that we don't pray. I don't even mean that in the right situations, in the right way, we don't look to get Christians out of there. I'm just saying that ultimately God is sovereign and God is at work in the suffering of his people. That's a major theme of 1 Peter, by the way. And consider that even in the Book of Acts, God tells the disciples to go into all the nations, and they don't wanna go. They just stay in Jerusalem. That's where they're from. That's what they know. And God actually uses persecution, particularly the murder of Stephen, to scatter them to accomplish his purposes. Look, I don't love that anyone is suffering for their faith, but I also don't want to ignore the fact that God is in control and working to accomplish his purposes. No, instead of responding with violence, Christians should be talking about it, Christians should be praying about it. And Christians also should be asking God, is there something I should do? Remember that, in Matthew 25:40, Jesus says, what you do for the least of these, you do for me. I, think we should all be asking God, is there a part for me to play in Nigeria, whatever that would be, for our churches? Is there a part for us to play to help our brothers and sisters who are suffering around the world? Look, the optimistic side of me is thankful we have a president who even knows this is happening. Because Christians have suffered for a long time and no one talks about it, but the cynical side of me says maybe what he's doing headed into midterm elections, is shamelessly looking for our support. Hey, I'll kill the people that are killing you. but that isn't something we should support. It's not something Jesus supported. Let's pray for what's happening in Nigeria and for Christians around the world. Let's ask God what our part might be. But let's stop short of blood thirst. That is not ultimately what honors God, what is good for the lost, or even ultimately what's good for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

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