On occasions like Anzac Day, our kids can come up with some tricky questions. One that we’ve had to keep talking about as a family is whether it’s OK for Christians to fight in wars.
It’s not ideal
The first thing to talk about with our children is the fact that war is a product of living in a fallen world full of sinful people. Wars would not happen if groups of people were able to live side-by-side in perfect harmony—sharing their resources without greed or covetousness, overlooking the differences between them and treating one another with mutual respect.
But ever since humanity fell into sin, groups of people have been fighting against each other. Wars usually start because of disagreements over land, resources, leadership or ideology. Our children won’t find it hard to recognise the seeds of these kinds of disagreements in their own hearts and relationships, especially with their siblings.
But war always results in the destruction of life and property; it always affects both soldiers and civilians; it always ushers in a general state of instability, scarcity, distrust and fear.
War is never a good thing, even if it may sometimes be deemed necessary.
It’s not forever
War is a tragic consequence of living in a fallen world. Which means that war will no longer be present in the new heavens and new earth that God will bring about when Jesus returns. As Isaiah said:
In the last days,
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.Many peoples will come and say,
Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.’
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2:2–4)
We long for that day when God will ‘break the bow and shatter the spear’ wielded in war (Psalm 46:9). How much more so our Christian brothers and sisters living in warzones across the globe!
It’s not personal
Our kids may notice the seeming contradiction between the commandments ‘Do not murder’ and ‘turn the other cheek’ and Christians fighting in a war, where they may have to end another person’s life. So it’s important to help our children understand the difference between murder and killing.
