Romans 14

to this former President of the SBC’s Sermon on Tax Policy.

You asked about a just war. Daniel Heimbach there at SEBTS has written well relating to the subject. Check out his position when given opportunity.

I would ask you to go back and read every comment I made to FTME in its entirety. Don’t cherry pick what I have said.

If you will do that you may realize that for you to suggest I lack a “tremendous sense of sorrow….” is an error of judgment on your part as to my position.

Also, I was not describing “what war looks like….” I was describing what war “is.”

Many people talk about what war “looks” like from various perspectives. But war is one thing; war is hell. And without “tremendous sorrow” you will not fully understand that reality.

Also notice what I said to David Rogers in comment 117. Brother, even if a war is just, it is never good.

But, in the end here today, I would really appreciate you guys not saying I have a “flippant ” position about war or that I don’t think biblically. That is poor analysis on your part.

I am encouraged by your reply.

Bruce

In Spain, whenever new missionaries arrived, or volunteer teams from the States, one of the things we always tried to “coach” them about was how they talked with Spaniards about capital punishment and gun control. In normal conversations, those are issues that easily come up between Americans and Spaniards, and the opinions of the typical Spaniard on those topics are usually very different than the opinions of typical Southern Baptists. But, if you allow yourself to get drawn in to a discussion on these issues right off the bat, you often end up closing the door to discussions about the gospel. Another typical question (though, Spaniards would usually try to be discreet in the way they asked it) was, “Who did you vote for?”, or, more to the point, “Did you vote for Bush?”

On all of these issues, there is a balance between full disclosure and honesty, and avoiding things that are unpopular in a given cultural context, and that are not really essentials of the gospel, in order to not put a stumbling block in the way of being able to share in a meaningful way about the gospel. If someone asks you, point blank, though, it is never a good thing to be less than honest. It is important, however, in my opinion, to be as tactful as we can, to not major on minors, and to have good sound reasoning (that makes sense to someone from a different cultural context) to back up our positions on different issues like this. It is sometimes good to clarify, “That is just a personal opinion of mine, and is not really tied in to my religious beliefs, per se.”

A similar question is the use of alcohol. As IMB missionaries, we all pledge to be total abstainers on the field. So, that is not an issue at stake. To not do so, would be a lack of integrity. However, the way we communicate our choice to abstain to Spaniards when they offer us alcohol, or ask about why we do not drink, is very important. It is much easier for them to accept it, if we present it as a personal preference, rather than a religious conviction. Also, if we do present it as a religious conviction, we run the risk of communicating, from their perspective, that total abstinence is an essential requirement of our religion, thus placing an unbiblical stumbling block in front of our presentation of the gospel. None of this is merely hypothetical. These issues are the daily “bread and butter” of what missionaries in places like Western Europe have to deal with.

With Muslims, there are other issues, as Rastis, and others in the comment stream over there on his post, will be discussing. But, I think there are parallels, as we talk about the general issue of missionary contextualization and full disclosure.

Thanks for the nuance, but any time I am writing, I assume the reader knows that it is from my perspective. Again, as FTME said earlier, “it seems,” “from my perspective,” that CB is being flippant about killing 60 million people. It is hard to interpret his comments another way. See below.

“But another issue that we must face is; Satan has many children in all places, and many of them run whole countries.”

“And once you get into a real “killing war” no matter the size of the war or the factors that brought you into it, the only way you can get to go home is to win it. And to win it, you have to kill people.”

“War is hell. Therefore, may God bring “our” children home and may He have mercy on “theirs.””

“How to deal with Iraq or Afghanistan?? I heard someone mention sea of glass and sea of glass”

Don’t you think it would be more fair to CB to say, “which, from my perspective, seems to be the attitude you have”?

I think what FTME is asking for is that you reconsider your mindset from a Biblical, rather than practical or political, perspective. How is what you’re saying consistent with the teachings of Jesus to love our enemies, turn the cheek, and return good for evil.
Granted, war is hell. From a typical American political mindset it makes sense that we save “ours” and let “theirs” burn. But this is hardly a Christian mindset.
Furthermore, even if we must participate in war, it should be with a tremendous sense of sorrow, not “this is what war looks like and so let’s just deal with it,” which is certainly the attitude you have.