World War III & The War of the Home
World War III & The War of the Home
In A World Filled With Conflicts (At Home & Abroad), How Should Christians Respond?
Last Saturday evening, we spent the evening at a cookout with lots of other large families. The moms were growing concerned about the boys getting a little too rough on the trampoline and so consulted the dads on intervening. I mostly saw good-hearted wrestling and responded,
“Look, these boys might be in World War III in a few years, don’t we want them to have a fighting chance on the battlefield?”
My response may have been a little over the top, but there was part of it that was serious. World War III seems closer right now than any other time in my life.
There is conflict in Ukraine and Russia with no end in sight.
There is conflict in the Holy Land with outsiders like Hamas and Iran firing missiles into it.
China has its sights on taking Taiwan.
The U.S. would find itself involved in three different conflicts that could easily spin out of control into a greater global conflict. For those who are ready to panic, we should first remind ourselves that war is simply the culmination of our fallen human condition. C.S. Lewis, in his ‘Sermon on Wartime,’ writes,
“The war creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice.”1
World War is simply the war within ourselves and within our homes compounded to a global scale. Therefore, we should consider how to prevent this more existential threat in ourselves first.
The War of the Home
It is always the greatest tragedy when a family betrays itself and can no longer co-exist. This sort of war is a bigger deal than World War III, because the ‘family’ is the foundation of society, and the ‘home’ is the building block of civilization. A nation destroying another nation is horrific, but if families stay together, there is still hope for future renewal. However, once the family collapses, it can be very difficult to rebuild anything.
When a family forgets (or never learns) how to forgive and reconcile, spouses and siblings can permanently turn against one another over enough ‘friendly fire.’ I have warned my own children over this potential outcome (no, the King family isn’t filled with a bunch of saints… far from!) Sometimes best friends, who may be like family, can even become bitter enemies for a variety of reasons. We often hurt the ones we love, but if our stubborn pride gets the best of us, we can become so hardened that it becomes next to impossible to forgive one another.
The clash of nations and empires are to be expected until Jesus comes back, but we must take great care to raise a family that learns to love and forgive one another. This is why St. John Chrysostom calls the home ‘an arena’ or training grounds for building virtue. He writes,
“Let thy home be a sort of arena, a stadium of exercise for virtue. That having trained thyself well there, thou mayest with skill encounter all abroad.”2
One of the most difficult aspects of having a big family like our own is that there are constant conflicts to resolve and wounds to be healed, because we are all sinners. Ironically, it is actually in the home where we first put into the practice the words of our Lord, “But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’” (Matthew 5:44). One of the most beautiful aspects of a large family is that we immediately see our need for Christ and have the opportunity to receive the joy and blessedness of becoming peacemakers. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth… Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy… Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:1-11).
Perhaps, our children will be better prepared in resolving the conflicts that will inevitably arise among their future families, parishes, workplaces, or even roommates in college? At least, this is our prayer!
The Great Conflict or The Great Commission?
Instead of prepping for the next World War, I am much more in favor of teaching our children to be missionary disciples for Christ who are ready to lay down their lives for Him and convert the nations without the sword. This was the way of our Lord and the Apostles. It was the way of the earliest martyrs and church fathers. It was also the way of St. Patrick.
I am currently reading the book, “Monastery and High Cross” by Connie Marshner, and she makes an interesting observation in chapter 2:
“Uniquely in Christendom, Ireland was converted without bloodshed. That is worth pondering a moment. How could that have been, since the Gaels were certainly inclined to fighting? With Patrick, we should give the credit to God, but it’s also true that Patrick’s years of slavery had prepared him as nothing else could have. He already loved the people and had forgiven them for the slavery they inflicted on him. He knew the Irish language, which would have won him respect. He may even have encountered people he had known during his days as a slave.
Perhaps the conversion was made a bit easier because difficult concepts were already familiar, given the (significant, though limited) similarities between Irish paganism and Christianity, which I already discussed. Perhaps there was also a nascent Church in Ireland when he arrived. Some of them may have been captured slaves, as Patrick had been. Some may have been traders or sailors who had settled in Ireland. And some of them may have been monks from Egypt” (pg. 37).
Baked into the DNA of Christ’s teachings is forgiveness of one’s enemies which was a radical notion that our Lord introduced to the world. Historians have noted that Christianity would have had a difficult time leaving Jerusalem and fulfilling the Great Commission if the Jewish apostles were not willing to forgive their enemies. Why? Because they were surrounded by empires and kingdoms that at one time or another had persecuted or captured Israel!
Although most of us would like to pick and choose which of Christ’s teachings are our favorites, we must be obedient to all of them, because all of His teachings go together like a puzzle. If you love Christ, you must give Him everything. If you want to follow Christ, you must be willing to pick up your cross and lovingly die for the nations just as He did.
Thankfully, the Apostles obeyed our Lord, and their enemies quickly became brothers and sisters in Christ. This phenomenon made the Church instantly international. It was no longer simply a Jewish sect following a strange Jewish teacher, but it was now made up of the nations who gave their allegiance to a cosmic King. The Christians could be at home anywhere while being strangers everywhere! The ancient document, Letter to Diognetus, (written between 130 AD-190 AD) describes Christians like this:
“There is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country.”
We must keep in mind that the role of a Christian is not to go in search of more enemies (be that foreign, cultural, or political), but instead, to love all and serve all as far as possible. It may just even prevent the next world war!
https://www.christendom.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Learning-In-Wartime-C.S.-Lewis-1939.pdf
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/108449.pdf