How to Respond to Middle East Tensions? (by Michelle Van Loon)

Source:

Perhaps because warfare by definition is all about one side versus another, polarized talk in our culture has left me feeling as though I need to duck in order to avoid the next verbal punch.

• “The nation of Israel has engaged in an overkill response in Gaza.”
• “The people of Gaza are being oppressed by Israeli government policies.”
• “The United States left a hella mess in the country after they pulled out of Iraq, where our military shouldn’t have even been in the first place.”
• “The rise of Islamic fundamentalism is an understandable response to Western imperalist policies.”
• “Israel doesn’t have a right to exist.”
• “Who are we to tell Iran that they can’t develop their nuclear program?”
• “Incidents of anti-Semitism around the world are on the rise.”
• “Christians and other ethnic/religious minorities are being targeted for genocide in countries where Islamic militants are attempting to take over existing governments.”….

And if I am his, then my cry for his kindgom to come must be the filter through which I view this world.

This longing must form my response – and yours, if you are a follower of Jesus the Jewish Messiah, too. We will be less polarized and more healthy in the single body of Christ to which we belong if we:

Pray. Pray the words of Jesus. Watch for the ways in which he describes his kingdom. Align your opinions with his opinions of the world he died to save. 

Resist using de-humanizing language for those who are acting as enemies of the groups you name as the good guys in your analysis of the situation. This is the tactic of warfare propagandists, and doesn’t belong in your arsenal. 

Alleviate suffering through the care of those victimized by the conflict. Send bandages and medicine in the name of Jesus to relief workers. (Need suggestions for who is doing the work of relief on the ground in these hard places? Contact me.)

Learn. Read current events from a variety of perspectives, using the filter of the Holy Spirit. And please, for heaven’s sake and your own, read history. 

Pray some more. Pray for those being persecuted, those who’ve lost loved ones and homes, pray for enemies, and pray that your own faith will be strengthened so you will endure, through these birth pangs, to the end. 

What else would you add to this brief list? What prayers have guided you? What organizations are doing work you find especially meaningful?