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I am not a pacifist in the absolute sense. I believe that sometimes war is unavoidable and justifiable. One reason I believe this is the fact that actual evil exists in this world and man has the free will to choose between good and evil. In the Old Testament when God was leading the nation of Israel (a Theocracy prior to the era of the kings), He found it necessary to resort to acts of war and violence to achieve His purposes. Simply stated, if God could not avoid war while preserving man’s free will then neither can we.

This does not mean I am for war! I recently saw a catchy bumper sticker. Obviously it caused me to think as evidenced by today’s article. The bumper sticker read, “I am against the next war.” This is all it said; end of that story. I began to think along this line: “Who is for the next war? Who was for the last war? Who has been for any war?” Hence the remainder of this message.

I will state unequivocally that I am not for any war; I am opposed to every war. But, that does not make me a pacifist. There is always a better way than war. That is the essence of today’s scripture text. “Wisdom is better than weapons of war…” (Ecclesiastes 9.18). If all men would seek true wisdom, all wars would be avoidable. If all men would truly seek wisdom, crime would drop to zero. If all men would seek true wisdom, theft, murders, fraud, and assaults would have no place in any society. However, it is a fact that evil exists in this world and holds sway over the actions of men that make it mandatory for a police force to exist even in civilized states. If there were no evil, police actions, as we know them, would never be necessary.

I understand that there are people who are warmongers; but all people who believe that war is sometimes justifiable are not warmongers. Warmongers are evil by definition. To support police action is not equivalent to warmongering. Neither is being opposed to war equivalent to pacifism. As for me, I am glad that I have never had to make a decision whether or not to commit the lives of my fellowmen to police action and to put them in harm’s way; I do not envy those who have been forced to make such decisions. I do not necessarily agree with every decision that has been made along these lines, but neither am I accountable for those decisions.

“Wisdom is better than weapons of war…” I have never personally known anyone who would argue with this proverb. From reading the history of great men (biblical and otherwise), I am convinced that all great men have believed this principle. Abraham, believed it; Moses believed it; David believed it. I also know that great men who have lived since biblical times have believed that wisdom is better than weapons of war. Abraham Lincoln believed this but he was Commander in Chief during a war that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and untold amounts of human suffering. These illustrations merely serve to show that simply not being for war does not mean that war sometimes is the only option. In fact, I think it is safe to say that war ought to always be the last option – every other possible solution having been considered and found to be lacking.

The most powerful weapons are not weapons of war. The greatest weapons affect the hearts of men and achieve change in that manner. The axiom, “The pen is mightier than the sword” is a true proverb. The gospel is one such weapon. It, according to Paul, is “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1.16) and has the ability to melt the coldest heart and soften the hardest one. It is God's war machine!

Questions:

1. Are you for violence in any form? If no, does it mean that you would always oppose violence?

2. Has God always been against war? Has He ever sanctioned war?

3. Was David for war? Did he ever participate in war or commit acts of violence against others?

4. Is the pen mightier than the sword? If yes, why? What about the gospel?

"'Christ in You...'" from Dale Krebbs

The Saints Who Slept