Friendly Fire or Treason?

One of the major focuses of the U.S. military over the last few years, as we have been at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been to lower the rate of deaths caused by friendly fire. In World War II friendly fire had been responsible for nearly 12% of the deaths of U.S. troops and in Vietnam nearly 14%. Apparently, they have dropped the rate of friendly fire by 1% in the latest wars, but are still seeking to fix this issue.

Friendly fire is something that seems to come with the territory in battle. An allied soldier may jump in front of a weapon while it is being fired, or they are mistaken in the distance to be the enemy. In the Civil War, this was an even greater problem. No one was immune to it either because even great leaders such as Stonewall Jackson died this way.

I honestly couldn't imagine going out this way in war. After all of the training, team building, anxieties, mustered up courage and finally finding a purpose to truly fight for your country, that it would end at the tip of your buddies rifle. It seems like it would be all for not. Like everything you just went through and everything that you were fighting for was meaningless. If I'm going to die in battle, it better be by the hands of my enemy. The thought of dying at the hands of my enemy brings me courage. The thought of dying at the hands of my friend who can't point his rifle in the right direction causes me confusion and anxiety; not to mention lack of focus on what I am doing with having to keep an eye over my shoulder. If I can't trust my friend to fire in the right direction then who can I trust?

I feel this way about the church. How often have we died or been wounded at the hands of our brothers in Christ? How often have we struck our brother or sister with our tongue and watch them be destroyed over it? What is ever worse though is that the church (our church included) has not carelessly shot us, they have, at times, all together become our enemy. They have entrenched themselves on our side of the field but actually facing us and have shot us like they were shooting Satan himself. We have formed factions (better known as denominations) and clicks. We have hated each other and betrayed one another even unto death if necessary. Like Judas. I can't tell you how many times I have trusted someone or loved someone in the church that has shot me in the heart with their words or their actions, all on account of their pride and arrogance. All because I wasn't what they wanted me to be. They expected me to be perfect or conform to their "super awesome doctrine!" Apparently they had God wrapped so tightly in a box that there was no room for me in it.

I am no different. So often I have looked down my doctrinal nose at others in the church and shot them with my thoughts or words. I have put down other denominations and churches and people with different doctrinal stances. I have hated these people; people that Christ himself loves, I have said that I hated. I have hurt brothers in Christ. I have shot with cutting words and condemned men and women that I will spend eternity with. I have fought them as viciously (if not more so) as would have my own enemy. I have called them enemies. How is that right?

I am writing all of this, not because I am immune but because I am convicted.

I'm remembering the verse that says if you can't love your brother whom you have seen, how can you love God whom you haven't seen? I now realize how little I must have loved God, if at all. If I called my own brother my enemy then what did that make God who is the Father of my enemy?

The church (ours included) is in a critical state right now. We are engaged in a battle that is much bigger than you or I could imagine, and believe it or not, it's not against homosexuality or abortion. It's not against drugs or teen sex or drinking under age. The true battle is over the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the true gospel of Jesus Christ? The very grace of Jesus Christ poured out in love for one another; for the lost; and even for our enemies. So often I look at the church in America and I am bewildered. How is this Jesus' church? We have wrecked the truth of the gospel, hated the lost, and shot our brothers. Something is really wrong and it's time that something changed.

Without love we have nothing. Without love we have no God, because God is love.

It's nearly impossible to avoid friendly fire while engaged in battle. It happens and it will happen in the church. However, It's one thing to hurt someone accidentally, it's all-together another thing to treat allies and brothers like they are our enemy. We call that treason.

Even Christ said, "If they are for us, than they are not against us."

Every person who claims the name of Christ, regardless of what we think of them or their doctrine or or the way they dress and smell is our brother in Jesus Christ. They are children of God, loved and adored by the person we call King and Father. If someone is loved by Christ, who are we to hate them or treat them like enemies?

How awesome would it be if we put our weapons down when facing each other and actually prayed for the brethren? What if we prayed for New Spring? What if we prayed for Concord Baptist and Redeemer? What if we prayed for our friend who stabbed us in the back last week or took our boyfriend/girlfriend? What if we started caring about the dorky kid or the kid that dressed weird or had a weird hair cut? What if we stopped shooting our brothers and offered them a helping hand? What if we started treating them like brothers and all turned our guns toward the true enemy, the world and Satan?

What would that kind of love do? What did it do in the Old Testament when the Isrealites joined together and called out to God? What happened when churches were united in cause in the New Testament?

It got crap done!! God Listened and helped every time! God had compassion and joined their cause. God isn't going to join a cause that defames His name. He will join our cause when we cry out together in unity and love.

I have heard that America is going to hell in a hand basket and that the Holy Spirit is gone, but I don't believe that for a minute. The Holy Spirit is here. If he weren't then we wouldn't be here either. I think the gospel is waiting to explode into the world through us, but God is waiting for us to obey His command to love. This is a much harder command than the 10 commandments because it's not some list we can just check off. This is something deeper that can only come from Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

Let's start seeing the battle for what it is; a battle to show the world the Grace of Jesus Christ through love for Christ first, then the brethren and into the world.