Tyler and Kendall are sharing in this conversation together. Kendall likes to intimidate Tyler with her size and strength and ability to worry about unforeseen events, while Tyler lives footloose and fancy-free.
This week we simply offer a discussion about the war in Ukraine. It is a messy situation without easy answers, but it does bring up a lot of questions. Our convictions in this conversation include: 1) This is primarily Putin’s war. It is unjust and nonsensical. The Ukrainians are suffering and many Russians are too, and Putin is to blame. He could end the suffering if he chose to. 2) Christianity is not a violent religion. We have deep appreciation for Christian pacifism but we recognize that many faithful Christians who have gone before us and have been much closer to war have not found pacifism to be a universally faithful position (C.S. Lewis and Dietrich Bonhoeffer are two such examples). Instead we believe that the Christian’s trained response should be pacifism. Non-violence should be the Christian default so that any act of violence is wrestled with ahead of time, and before God.
Kendall: We’ve paused our normal programming (the Listening to the World blog series) because we’ve been caught up in the war in Ukraine. It feels wrong to keep going, knowing the devastation that is happening to the citizens of Ukraine (and to be honest, Russians, too!). So we are pausing our series. We are acknowledging that the war in Ukraine is heavy on our hearts and we, like many of you, are spending our evenings watching what horror has unfolded that day. It is senseless. Often, when a tragedy like this happens, the church lays down its arms for a time and bands together to offer hope and healing. We believe this is such a time. So, what do we do here in the US? How do we respond to a war that is happening on the other side of the world? What is our role as humans–and even more, as Christians?
Tyler: I think a stance of humility is important for us at this time. Our Enlightened, Western, Industrialized minds have been trained to believe that the world is under our control. That we can shape history and the created world into whatever we want it to be. I don’t know all the forces that have come together to lead to this war, what Putin is thinking or what he is hoping to achieve. I do know that in this moment it feels helpless to be so far away and so isolated from such tragedy, and that those feelings bring up a lot of impulses in us. But I advocate for humility and the recognition that the Ukraine people have a long history with Christianity, and have demonstrated deep resilience and courage in the face of such tragedy. I want to avoid any idea that we, as Americans, are going to be, or are called to be, the heroes of this war.
Kendall: What struck me this week is the realization that for most of the biblical narrative, the people we read about were living as oppressed people, under the control of other, larger powers. We sometimes forget that. But it is a good reminder to me. The people of Ukraine are living as refugees, oppressed by Putin’s drive for power. Perhaps they are in a position to understand the Gospel better than us right now? Is it possible that they are nearer to the heart of God through this suffering? God always hears the cries of those in trouble–and God always responds.
Tyler: You’re right. (As a side note, I think that is why we get such weird interpretations of Revelation. It was written to an oppressed people, not to a superpower.) The few times when the nation of Israel was powerful is when they strayed farthest from God.
I think it is important to remember that there is a hidden dimension to our world. God is active and involved and He has a special heart for the meek, the brokenhearted, those who suffer. I’m reminded of an address that C.S. Lewis gave to a group of Oxford students during WWII where he advocated for the continuing of learning even during war time. He consistently appealed to the larger spiritual reality that we always live within. We live and die before God, the infinite, the eternal, the absolute judge of all. He notes that “War makes death real to us, and that would have been regarded as one of its blessings by most of the great Christians of the past. They thought it good for us to be always aware of our mortality.”
Kendall: I think it is just so hard to live a “normal” life, knowing what horror other people are living through. It feels wrong to proceed as normal–going to work, hanging out with your kids, having parties. It feels like we shouldn’t be able to enjoy life right now. But I also know that for much of our lives, we are holding on to both heartache and hope–at the same time!
Tyler: Well perhaps Lewis is right and what we are really feeling is the presence of death, something we try hard to isolate ourselves from and ignore as much as possible. In seminary I read a book that mentioned an article called The Pornography of Death in which the author argues that death is something that we don’t know what to do with so we ignore it in real life, but yet we fill our minds with it through the media. He likened it to Victorian attitudes towards sex. We do have a lot of violence and death mediated to us through our screens, either in TV shows, movies, or news. Yet we rarely encounter death in our embodied lives.
Kendall: So, maybe one of the most surprising things about this war then, has been those stories of astounding bravery and courage in the face of death. Maybe that’s a part of the fascination! And those stories simultaneously demonstrate what Jesus alluded to in Matthew 4–that the people of Galilee–also living under occupation from a foreign oppressive power— were living (in ultimate reality) “under God’s government”. We see evidence of this in the story of the Ukraine soldiers offering a Russian soldier tea and a facetime call to his mom. We see this in the many Polish moms who left strollers for those mothers who left their homes and needed a way to transport their children. We see this in the story of the Ukraine musicians playing their national anthem in the nation’s capital–”music as resistance”. In the presence of Unexpected Beauty, we realize the transcendent reality of God’s Love.
Tyler: In the Parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus demonstrates that everyone knows what compassion looks like. The Jewish law expert had to recognize that the Samaritan demonstrated compassion even when it came from his enemy. There are some things that we are just hardwired to recognize as good and human things. Compassion is one of these. But the war has demonstrated others: Courage, Beauty, Resilience, Mercy, Sacrifice. We know these are good when we see them. We recognize the value in them. These are deeply human things, because they are rooted in the person of the God whose image we are made in. Again I return to the theme of humility as the Ukrainians are demonstrating a humanity, and a Christianity, that we as Americans can learn from.
Kendall: The beatitudes of Matthew 5 are both an affirmation of our blessed-ness in times of suffering, and a call to humility in times where we find ourselves fully self-sufficient. Hear the words of Jesus:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
We are not advocating for inaction. Christianity is not a passive calling. If you are able to send money, please do. There are many reputable organizations seeking to respond to the crisis. Tyler and his family have donated through Razom. Kendall and her family have donated through the www.imiracleproject.org.