God
Bless Iraq
|
This
issue should not be taken as a partisan political
statement. Nor should this material be construed
as being un-American, un-patriotic or un-Christian.
It recognizes Al Qaeda as evil and demonic. However,
the premise simply is: GOD BLESS IRAQ!
Since 9-11 of 2001 the United States has been re-evaluating
its place in the world. It now views itself as the
sole super-power of the planet. Bumper stickers
on cars, signs posted everywhere as well as politicians
openly declare “God bless America”.
This expression is continually being voiced not
only at political gatherings but also at sporting
events, civic gatherings and even at some Christian
“worship” services.
It
seems to me that the “God bless America”
syndrome
|
|
|
has
become our new unofficial national anthem. What is designated
as “the religious right” often uses the “God
bless America” slogan in promoting its agenda. But
what does “God Bless America” really mean
any more than what does “God bless Iraq” mean?
|
 |
Does
“God bless America” mean that God is to
bless anything and whatever the president and governmental
leaders say and/or demand? |
|
Does
“God bless America” imply that God is
obligated to empower the United States to police the
world? |
|
Does
it mean that aggression by America is OK as long as
God is implored?
|
|
Does
“God bless America” mean in some way or
other that the people of America deserve God’s
blessing but not the people of Iraq or people living
in the rest of the world? |
|
 |
To
implore “God bless America” sounds as
if we are invoking God’s blessing upon our actions
whatever may be involved in those actions.
In many respects the God that many Americans now worship
has become a tribal god; an American God. The faith
that many declare as Christian has in reality become
a civil religion. In the minds of countless numbers
of people in this nation God is an American, a political
conservative and maybe even a registered (in the heavenly
register of course) Republican. But is America God’s
pet nation? |
|
|
I fear that the expressions such as “God bless America”
or “Allah bless Iraq” have become empty slogans.
I believe that this whole concept borders on being idolatrous.
What do we Americans or the people of Iraq mean by the word
“bless?” Bless the people? Or bless the military
forces? Or bless the governmental actions?
How about the bombs and bullets, do
we want them blessed? What is really meant? |
“God
bless America” or “God bless Iraq”
or whatever other nation’s name may be inserted,
I believe, makes that god a national mascot. We’ve
developed an “American god.” But GOD IS
GOD! God is not in the grandstands of heaven cheering
the military of whichever nation is “claiming”
that God is on its side at that particular time period.
God was not cheering Hitler on when he rose to power
and used the churches of Germany to sanction his Nazi
regime. Nor was God cheering the 9-11 militant Muslim
terrorists, none of whom were from Iraq who destroyed
the Twin Towers and created pandemonium in America.
And I doubt if God was cheering when an American president
declared to the world that he is leading “a
new crusade.” Muslims and Jews recall the infamous
“Christian” Crusades of yesteryear when
in the name of God Jews and Muslims were viciously
slaughtered in the Name of God by supposedly professed
Christians. |
|
|
I recently came across the following statement on the internet,
“A multitude of wars turn into ‘holy’
conflicts with tribal gods, applauding on both sides of
the trenches. People and nations alike hunger for divine
approval and blessing and those inclinations easily lead
to national idolatry in the name of god.”
|
 |
Militant
Muslims ‘claim’ that God or Allah as
they refer to God is on their side. They are convinced
that whatever they do “in the name of God”
will be blessed. They believe that to die for Allah
grants immediate entrance into what they deem as
paradise. On-the-other-hand many American Christians
are equally convinced that God is on the side of
Americans. To bomb, destroy, and kill hundreds of
thousands of what is perceived as “the enemy”
is thought to be willed by God. But is it?
It
is imperative that the ‘authentic’ Christians
of America[1] differentiate between the god of American
civil religion from the biblical God revealed in
Scripture. |
|
What
should distinguish authentic Christian Faith from the religions
of the world is how it is manifested in the lives of the
followers of Jesus Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount the
followers of Jesus Christ are thusly taught, “You
have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth
for tooth.’ But I [Jesus] tell you; do not resist
an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek,
turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to
sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.
If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from
the one who wants to borrow from you." |
| “You
have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor
and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you, that you may
be children of your Father in heaven. He causes
his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends
rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
(Matthew 5:38-45) TNIV
Impossible?
Our Lord said it . . . so we are to believe it,
without reservation. If we indeed perceive the people
of Iraq to be our enemies, our responsibility as
Biblical Christians, according to Jesus, is to love
them. Read the above biblical passage again. I did
not say that we must or even should “agree”
with their national policies. But some of us are
Christians first and foremost. What distinguishes
us from “religion” is Christlike love
for both friends and enemies alike! |
|
|
 |
Though
the vast majority of the people of Iraq are spiritually
blinded by the error of Islam and many of them are
“religious terrorists” who are intent
on destroying both the Jews and the followers of
Jesus Christ, we Christians are obligated to love
them.
If
we Americans want God to bless our nation then it
makes sense that we, too, will desire God’s
blessing upon the people of Iraq, even upon our
perceived enemies. The LORD God is the God of heaven
and earth. The God who teaches believers to love
our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to render
to no one evil for evil, and to leave vengeance
in God’s hands is the God of all people. Remember,
our Lord taught to forgive seventy times seven.
Remember, too, when upon the cross suffering the
agony of that horrible death by crucifixion our
Lord said of those crucifying him, “Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing.” (Luke 23:34).
|
|
The
Scriptures declare that “God so loved the
world” . . .God so loved Iraq…and China…and
America that God sent Jesus to die in order to redeem
(save) those who believe and receive him as Savior
and Lord. The God of true believers is not a national
god. In Christ there is no east or west, in Him
no north or south. In Christ there is neither male
nor female, black or white, Jew or Arab, Republican
or Democrat. See – Gal. 3:26-28; Rom. 10:12;
Col. 3:11.
Has the God of “God bless America” become
“the golden calf” of American nationalism? |
|
|
|
Friend,
I am not anti nor un-American. I love my native
land. However, I do not love some of what I see
happening within this nation. My first allegiance
is to the God of heaven and all the earth. I worship
the God who blesses those who are poor in spirit,
those who are the outcasts of society, those who
are stigmatized for whatever the reason, those
who suffer and those who are impoverished. This
is the God who loves all people far beyond our
national, ethnic, racial and religious boundaries.
If you are an American Christian be a Christian
first. Be Christlike. Pray for the people of the
world: for the Muslims, for fellow Christians,
for the Jews, the Arabs as well as those whom
the organized churches too often disenfranchise
for whatever the reason.
The
people of Iraq desperately need to hear the saving
Gospel of Jesus Christ. The war in Iraq has caused
untold devastation to this needy land.
|
|
Though
its government under Saddam Hussein and his Baathist Party
have been overthrown the people of Iraq are being torn apart
by warring religious factions. As Biblical Christians we
need to: |
|
Pray
for the remnant of authentic believing Christians
that are seeking to survive in this land. |
|
|
Pray
for an increase in the witness of believers to their
neighbors and for an increase in biblical congregations
throughout the land. |
|
Pray
for revival in the land |
|
Pray
for godly leaders to be equipped to take leadership
both in the churches as well in other places where
God can use them. |
|
Pray
for the salvation of Muslims to come into the understanding
that the Jesus of the Qu’ran is God’s
one and only Son who alone is Savior. |
|
[1]
An “authentic” Christian is not referring
to any one segment of Christendom, rather it is referring
to those men and women who have bowed the knee to the living,
holy, eternal God declaring the Prince of Peace [Jesus Christ)
as only Savior and Lord. |
|
|
|
 |
