One American Christian's Response to the War in Israel

Some of us are uninformed. Some of us are insensitive. Some of us are uninformed and insensitive. And none of this has kept us from sharing our opinions - wanted or not. Here is mine.

God help me. 

We are now three weeks into the war in Israel. This has led to numerous conversations in our house about what is happening in that small patch of land thousands of miles away. It’s a million miles away but for so many of us, it’s right next to our hearts. 

What is making this so much more difficult, is the narrative around Palestine, Israel, Arabs, and Jews has changed over the last 20 years. What was once so black and white for a large majority of Americans isn’t nearly so clear today. Our world has shrunk. This isn’t just a news story, it’s personal. My daughter has a friend living in Gaza who literally fears for her life. The tears we’ve witnessed come from a deep place of connection and concern.

Photo by mohammed al bardawil on Unsplash

In a very practical sense, there isn’t much we can do outside of making a financial donation. There isn’t a lot we can do, but there is no end to what we can say, write, and post across our social channels. 

No, it’s not helping. 

Some of us are uninformed. Some of us are insensitive. Some of us are uninformed and insensitive. And none of this has kept us from sharing our opinions - wanted or not. I put myself in the uninformed category (of course, I could be insensitive too, but typically the insensitive are the last to know). 

So my response for you doesn’t have a lot to do with the actual conflict. From a biblical perspective, this war began in the book of Genesis between two brothers (Jacob and Esau), and it has been perpetuated for thousands of years. I do want to speak to you and me — followers of Jesus watching from the sidelines.

What should our response be?

If you look closely, they are ideas I’ve been sharing for the last few weeks (click the links for the original content). Here are four ways to help filter the war in Israel.

1. I am limited. 

Knowledge is power. In fact, there is a term called ‘knowledge hiding’ to describe a person who withholds information in order to gain power over those around him. When I have information, I feel like I have power or I am in control of the situation. The reason you’ve felt compelled to consume so much media (social, internet news, cable news, radio, newspaper) over the last few weeks is to gain a sense of control or power over a situation that leaves you powerless.

The truth is we are limited. The most powerful person in the world, the President of the United States, is unable to do anything about the war in Israel, Ukraine, or most places in the world. If he is limited, how much more are we? Information does not change this fact. 

But this doesn’t stop us from trying. If you feel like the stream of information coming at you is non-stop, you aren’t wrong. One study shows Americans consume over thirteen hours a day of media (radio, television, internet, newspapers, magazines, social media). God did not design you to consume that amount of information. 

Here is why:

God is omniscient. We are not. 

We aren’t God, yet we still fight the same temptation Adam and Eve faced in the Garden of Eden. When the snake tempted Adam and Eve, one temptation was this thought:

“…you will be like God…”  -Genesis 3:5

Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to be like God? No, but left to our own devices, that is what we seek. 

You are not all-knowing. And because you are not omniscient, you don’t have the ability, on an emotional level, to process the flood of information available to you. Our attempt to know everything is having a devastating effect on the general state of mental health in our nation. And if that weren’t bad enough, the consequences run deeper than individually and into the health of our nation and world as a whole.

Now let’s take this a step further. Not only are we not able to handle the amount of information at our fingertips, but we also aren’t able to process the good from the bad — the true from the false. All media outlets have an agenda, and your good is not their priority. To keep us hooked, they talk negatively about the other side (democrats, republicans, conservatives, liberals, Christians, heathens). Scripture tells us it will tear us apart.

'Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper,
but the talk of the wicked tears it apart.'  -Proverbs 11:11

War is a horrible way to learn, but it is teaching us two things:

1. We are limited.

2. We do more harm than good when we play God.

But here is the good news — while you are limited, God is not.

2. God is unlimited. 

A few weeks ago, I was invited to preach at a sister church. Before I was introduced, the pastor of the church addressed his congregation about the war in Israel. He reminded them of what I just told you — we are powerless to do much of anything. His reminder was not all negative because he said there is always something we can do. We can pray. 

We pray because God is unlimited. 

This is not a new revelation. We know God is unlimited. We also know the proper response is prayer. But how should we pray?

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

I hope my opening thoughts didn’t seem to gloss over the importance of what happens in the nation of Israel, specifically in the city of Jerusalem. There is deep significance politically, historically, and spiritually to this city. There is a spiritual battle I can’t see, and I don’t fully understand taking place over that one city, so I don’t take lightly the command given by David in Psalms 122:

'Pray for peace in Jerusalem.
May all who love this city prosper.
O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls
and prosperity in your palaces.
For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “May you have peace.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.'

-Psalms 122:6-9

David gave this call to prayer in a poem celebrating a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I’ve never made the trip to the Holy Land, but I’ve heard people talk about the reverence of standing in the very places Jesus walked, taught, died, and rose again. Jerusalem is just as important to Jews and Muslims. There is spiritual significance to this city and bombs and bullets won’t win this battle. 

We need an unlimited God to move in Jerusalem. So we pray.

We pray for God to save men, women, and children in Israel and Gaza. We pray for peace in Jerusalem.

But we don’t just pray for Jerusalem in 2023, because Jerusalem also matters at the end of the age:

‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.’  -Revelation 21:1-2

Again, I don’t understand all our unlimited God has done and will do, but I know he established a new Kingdom when Jesus came to earth. At some point, God will complete this work with a new heaven and new earth, and he will rule from Jerusalem. 

We pray for our unlimited God to move in Israel, Gaza, and Jerusalem. We pray for peace. 

As we pray, we can begin to let go of the control we feel like we need because God is not at rest.

3. God is not at rest.

In the book of Ruth, Naomi challenges her daughter-in-law to be patient because Boaz will not wait to act in her favor. It’s a picture of God’s care for us. But when you are in a war zone a day seems like a thousand years, and a week like a million. 

The Apostle Peter wrote several letters to a group of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus scattered around what is modern-day Turkey. They were either at that moment or soon to experience persecution. This made them wonder when Jesus was going to fulfill his promises of return and final salvation. This was Peter’s response:

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 

-2 Peter 3:8-9

If it feels like God is slow or waiting or at rest, don’t be fooled. He is at work in ways we can’t see. His timing is perfect. So we pray believing God is hard at work on our behalf, and then we wait.

Ah, and the waiting is the hardest part.

It’s much easier to feel like we are doing something by sharing our opinions with anyone who will listen. It feels like we are accomplishing something by posting on social media. I challenge you to wait as silently as you can. Your opinion won’t change my mind, but it will create division.

As you wait, there is one thing you can do beyond prayer.

You can grieve, because there will be no winner in this war.

4. There is no winner. 

If I have any political take on this conflict, this is it: there will be no winner in this war. 

That being the case, we should do the Biblical thing with all involved in this war — Israeli and Palestinian — and grieve with them. 

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”  -Romans 12:15

As I see the pictures on the screen of my phone, television, and computer, I’m reminded of Jesus’ response to seeing the crowds gathered around him. He had compassion. This means he felt the feelings deep within him. It moved him. 

We need to feel deep within us what hundreds and thousands of families in Gaza and Israel are feeling.

We need to mourn with the families in Israel who are waiting to receive word on their family members in the hands of Hamas. We need to mourn those murdered at parties, in homes, and in the streets of Israel. We need to grieve with the family in Gaza who has lost literally everything. We need to grieve with the Palestinian mother who has lost her child to bombs and missiles. 

On a very practical level, this means you need to grieve with those you come into contact with in your own world.

This past weekend, I attended a Sporting Kansas City professional soccer game. Sitting in the row in front of me was an Arabaic family - mother, father, teenage son, and teenage daughter. Before the game, the stadium announcer asked for a moment of silence for the war in Israel. To my ears, there was nothing controversial stated (choosing one side over another), but this family, without words spoken, bristled.

Then someone in the crowd yelled out, “Free Palestine!” The family quietly cheered.

I have no idea what this family has experienced. I don’t know what their world looked like before the war or today. I don’t know if they are from Palestine or some other part of the Arab world.

But I chose to have compassion on their point of view. I chose to feel the grief that they were feeling.

There will be no winner, so we grieve with those who grieve and pray for an unlimited God to move.

What do we do?

I’ve been clear but with lots of words, so now I’ll be succinct.

1. You are limited, so don’t try to be God through information.

2. God is unlimited, so pray for Jerusalem.

3. God is not at rest, so wait for him to move.

4. There will be no winner, so grieve with the grieving.