Russia Invades Ukraine 2022

[Bootstrap]

“God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.”
― Mother Teresa

Well, that's a start. Faithful how? How can we, as Christians, be faithful to Jesus in our discussion of this war?

[temporal1]

“God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.”
― Mother Teresa

Well, that's a start. Faithful how? How can we, as Christians, be faithful to Jesus in our discussion of this war?

who is willing to love putin, and how to act on it?

[Bootstrap]

Well, that's a start. Faithful how? How can we, as Christians, be faithful to Jesus in our discussion of this war?

who is willing to love putin, and how to act on it?

How should we love Putin and act on it? How should we love Hitler and act on it? How should we love Herod and act on it?

[Ken]

Well, that's a start. Faithful how? How can we, as Christians, be faithful to Jesus in our discussion of this war?

who is willing to love putin, and how to act on it?

How should we love Putin and act on it? How should we love Hitler and act on it? How should we love Herod and act on it?

Putin has many millions of people who love him. Many who claim to be Christians.

What difference do you think that has made?

[Bootstrap]

How should we love Putin and act on it? How should we love Hitler and act on it? How should we love Herod and act on it?

Putin has many millions of people who love him. Many who claim to be Christians.

What difference do you think that has made?

I don't know. It's possible that Temp has some useful ideas that I haven't thought of. But I'd like to hear more concretely what she proposes.

Is Putin the person we should be directing most of our love towards? Or should we focus on not responding in hate to Putin, pouring our love into refugees and other victims of war? What is the Jesus response here? How did Jesus love Herod? Pilate? Judas?

[Ken]

Is Putin the person we should be directing most of our love towards? Or should we focus on not responding in hate to Putin, pouring our love into refugees and other victims of war? What is the Jesus response here? How did Jesus love Herod? Pilate? Judas?

Russia is the aggressor and I don't think we have any ability to affect the course of events and decisions by Russia one way or the other. Not through prayer or overt action like boycotts and such. I think it is naïve to think that individual people can affect the course of events across the globe. I also don't think God intervenes in world events based on some metric of prayer. There are very likely far more Russians praying for victory right now anyway.

That said, we are all just bystanders. None of our homes are being bombed in this war. None of us are being displaced. There are endless evil people around the world. I'm not sure it is my place to pray for or forgive any of them specifically. It would be an endless list.

So what can we do? One thing we can do is assist refugees who come to us in need. They are legion and not just from Ukraine. And the Bible does say something about that

The foreigners residing among you must be treated as native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
—Leviticus 19:34

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
—Hebrews 13:1-2

I have refugees from both Ukraine and Russia in my classes. I do my best to welcome them and spend a lot of extra time helping them with language and learning gaps. I also support humanitarian aid efforts and donate to organizations that provide such aid to Ukraine and elsewhere as Ukraine is far from the only conflict zone around the world. My kids and I have lots of long conversations about war and peace.

Beyond that? I mostly just keep myself informed.

[temporal1]

I don't know. It's possible that Temp has some useful ideas that I haven't thought of. But I'd like to hear more concretely what she proposes.

Is Putin the person we should be directing most of our love towards? Or should we focus on not responding in hate to Putin, pouring our love into refugees and other victims of war? What is the Jesus response here? How did Jesus love Herod? Pilate? Judas?

i’m not proposing, but asking .. as in the “Loving Putin” thread. there, barnhart (below) goes a long way.
does Jesus ask for more? (more than any of us is willing to do?) Matthew 5:44?

Poll: Loving Putin
http://forum.mennonet.com/viewtopic.php ... lit=loving

OP:

Matthew 5:44
https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-44.htm

43You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’

44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.…

Jesus the Christ goes beyond “not hating,” “tolerating.”

Christians are to love enemies. A Big Step beyond. A really hard step.
Can Jesus be trusted??

Jesus has some terrifying expectations.

Mr. Putin is not my enemy, the scripture says my fight is not with flesh and blood. He is a potential brother in the kingdom.

For those who have 'Christian love for Putin' how is this heart felt love being expressed ?

Pray for him to repent and turn to a life of obedience to King Jesus, refrain from expressing disapproval in terms that are dehumanizing (ethnic or racial slurs, animal comparisons) or claiming he is possessed or under the direct control of Satan, don't claim specific knowledge of his motives, don't express wishes of evil on him, pray for him as you would your own brother who has fallen into deception and sin.

This forum was where these kinds of questions were discussed, esp from “the third way” pov. (Maybe not in those words.)
i was present to read and learn. i believe lesterb and Klayton contributed, not the only ones.

i don’t understand Jesus to suggest neglect of victims in this process! no either/or.
again, i think that kind of “deduction” is of divisive politics, not Jesus.

[Bootstrap]

This forum was where these kinds of questions were discussed, esp from “the third way” pov. (Maybe not in those words.)
i was present to read and learn. i believe lesterb and Klayton contributed, not the only ones.

i don’t understand Jesus to suggest neglect of victims in this process! no either/or.
again, i think that kind of “deduction” is of divisive politics, not Jesus.

I agree that a "third way" point of view is the right perspective. To me, the "third way" is showing God's redemptive love to a lost and confused world. We cannot take up arms. We cannot hate. We can only speak the truth and show redemptive love. And the "third way" means that we are not acting as members of some political faction (conservatives versus liberals) but as Christians (the Kingdom of God versus the world).

The "third way" also means that we are followers of Jesus, looking to what he said and did, not followers of celebrity billionaires or politicians, promoting them as heroes, expecting them to be our salvation, looking to them to defeat our enemies.

And the "third way" means that we are not Caesar. I believe that Romans 13 tells us that Caesar is God's servant for maintaining order, and that we are to acknowledge Caesar's authority in the secular realm. I also believe that God will judge Caesar, and that some Caesars may incur very harsh judgement, but that judgement is God's, not mine. I am not Caesar - I am not a military strategist, I do not command armies and would never be part of one, I do not decide how Caesar should respond to a military invasion. I can only pray and look for ways to help the victims.

That's how I see it. How do you understand the third way?

[RZehr]

Russia has used quite a few S-300 and some more advanced S-400 missiles to attack Ukraine. But these systems are anti-aircraft, surface to air, defensive weapons.
I suppose that because they are “defensive” this made them easier politically and diplomatically to deploy nearer adversarial country borders. But clearly they are not only defensive. They can and are being, used to attack ground targets offensively.
I wonder if, in the future, this will change how countries treat them.

[Ken]

Russia has used quite a few S-300 and some more advanced S-400 missiles to attack Ukraine. But these systems are anti-aircraft, surface to air, defensive weapons.
I suppose that because they are “defensive” this made them easier politically and diplomatically to deploy nearer adversarial country borders. But clearly they are not only defensive. They can and are being, used to attack ground targets offensively.
I wonder if, in the future, this will change how countries treat them.

Russia is now using anti-ship missiles to deliberately target civilians for no other reasons but instill terror. This was yesterday




Russia keeps making compelling arguments for western nations to send more weapons to Ukraine to defend itself against this sort of terror. Which serves no military purpose and is nothing more than terrorism, plain and simple. And is in violation of every international convention on the rules of war of which Russia is a signatory.