Putting the Protest in Protestant
Not too long ago, before Americans started debating the merits of historical monuments, North Korea was much on many minds. In the context of nuclear weapons’ threat and national leaders’ maturity, Phillip Bethancourt, executive vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, offered advice to parents about how to talk to children about North Korea. In addition to counsel about how to find information and allay fears, Bethancourt recommended that parents use the opportunity to talk about faith:
When controversial issues arise, it creates amazing opportunities for parents to reflect on the implications of the gospel for even the most challenging issues in our culture. Don’t miss the opportunity to help your kids learn how to apply the gospel to everyday life. You can help them learn more about how God is at work in the world when you faithfully equip them to process the difficult effects of living in a fallen world.
There are many insights children can gain through candid conversations about what’s going on in North Korea. As you walk them through why geo-political conflicts develop, you can show them how the Bible has much to say about the history of discord in a James 4:1 world. As you explain the civic functions of our elected officials and military in strategic decision making, you can enlighten them to how the Bible shapes our view of the role government and war in a Romans 13 world. Perhaps most importantly, as you analyze the magnitude of the threat and engage the doubts in their heart, you can equip your children to pray for peace in a 1 Timothy 2:1-2 way.
A mother of two with a full day of chores is going to “walk” her kids through “why geo-political conflicts develop?” What a Proverbs-31 woman!
Bethancourt’s intentions seem good and edifying but when your average American has little knowledge of North Korean politics or history and almost as little about the workings of the U.S. State Department or the CIA, asking parents to talk about North Korea — period — seems a bit much. As many are willing to concede both Republican and Democrat, Donald Trump is POTUS and he has little knowledge of U.S. foreign policy, let alone how to allocate the resources of federal agencies and the U.S. military. Now your average parent, who is likely in his and her thirties at best, needs to instruct her kids about something that is beyond a 70-year-old billionaire?
Add to that that a parent is supposed to relate the conflict between North Korea and the U.S. and possible remedies to the gospel? Where, oh where does a Christian go for training that links theology and biblical exegesis to foreign policy? Not even the Vatican, with all of its history and experience at negotiating with world leaders, has all that much to say about North Korea and the U.S. beyond the sort of instruction that viewers used to receive from Mr. (Fred) Rogers:
In an interview with Vatican Radio Aug. 9, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, former Vatican representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva, said that “instead of building walls and creating dissidence or admitting the possibility of recourse to violence,” both countries must have a constructive approach that benefits the people.
Arguably, the best counsel to Christians is to let their ignorance keep them quiet. Christians, from pastors and theologians to parents and children, don’t have any special insight into foreign diplomacy. The Bible doesn’t speak to it. Regeneration doesn’t include the benefit of foreign policy (though it does justification and sanctification).
The best advice to parents might be to encourage children to trust the Lord, whose plans never fail.
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