I saw this on a bumper sticker the other day. It’s quite similar to the question so prevalent a number of years ago, “What would Jesus do?” which was the mantra for a huge number of people who were trying to speak truth to the decisions in their daily lives. Or it might have just been an enormously successful marketing scheme which sold a lot of cheap plastic trinkets. Who knows?
Nevertheless, “Who would Jesus bomb?” is an extremely relevant question today. As Christians, we often get so caught up in the politics of “national interests” and “self-defense” that we forget the orders from the One we claim to serve. “Love your enemies.” “Do good to those who hate you.” “Turn the other cheek.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Many times, in fact, we tend to let our fears, politics, patriotism, and greed dictate our actions toward those we are told are really the true enemies–Saddam Hussein, Ghaddafi, Putin, Syria, Iran, ISIS, the Taliban, the Houthi, the Viet Cong, North Korea, et al, etc. Ad infinitum. Many times we wholeheartedly support, encourage, and condone vicious, brutal campaigns to destroy them by any means possible, even to the point of bombing the least of the least who have no means at all of defending themselves.
For shame! As self-avowed disciples of the Prince of Peace, Who harmed no one, we ought to be asking ourselves this question—and listening to the answer! Jesus would bomb no one, no one at all. In fact, I dare say that if He were physically here today, He would be raising a ruckus about this cruel, cavalier, unloving attitude so common among His followers in “christian” America today.
What would Jesus do? Indeed! Go thou and do likewise.
Roger Mitchell
Stevensville