Facing the Reality of War with Biblical Truth
The church must pursue peace without surrendering biblical realism about evil. Please permit me to say something about the current war in the Middle East—not as a pundit, but as a Christian, and as a man who grew up in Africa close enough to war to know that it is never theoretical.
What Does the "Wars and Rumors of Wars" in the Bible Mean?
I am a naturalized American now, but I still carry memories many in the modern West have been spared: violence, instability, whispers that turned out not to be rumors at all, and the quiet, devastating ways war reshapes families, economies, and the human soul. I have also read enough history to know what war does. It destroys, yes—but it also reorders nations, redraws maps, exposes illusions, and reveals what a people are truly made of. So let me say this plainly: war is not new. It has never been new. And it is not going away. Jesus himself told us,
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars.” - Matthew 24:6
Scripture says it. History confirms it. Human nature proves it. War is not some ancient problem we have finally outgrown. Even in the American story, Congress has declared war 11 times across five separate conflicts, while U.S. forces have been used abroad in hundreds of other instances since 1798. And yet something has changed. This present conflict is exposing more than geopolitical tension. It is exposing a dangerous way of thinking.
The Danger of Misunderstanding Evil in the Modern World
The deeper crisis is not merely the outbreak of conflict abroad, but the condition of mind in the societies watching it. Much of the modern world—especially the West—has come to assume that war is always preventable if only the right people sit at the right table long enough. We imagine that with enough diplomacy, enough summits, enough institutions, enough pressure, and enough carefully chosen words, sworn enemies will suddenly become reasonable. As though evil is merely a misunderstanding. As though darkness can be dialogued into light.
But Scripture never speaks that way. The Bible does not treat evil as a failure of communication. It treats it as a reality in a fallen world—moral, spiritual, and sometimes civilizational. Paul reminds us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” only, but against powers and principalities (Eph. 6:12). Jeremiah tells us that the human heart is deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9). James traces conflict not merely to systems “out there” but to desires at war within us (James 4:1–2). That is not a call to panic. It is a call to sobriety.
What Is Presentism and Why Is it Dangerous?
One of the great delusions of our age is presentism—the quiet assumption that because we are modern, connected, educated, and technologically advanced, the old truths about human nature no longer apply. We have trade, treaties, global media, international bodies, shared platforms, and instant communication, and so we flatter ourselves into believing that humanity has somehow evolved morally. We assume that because the world is more connected, it must also be more reasonable. But connectivity is not character. Information is not wisdom. Exposure is not transformation.
The human condition remains stubbornly ancient. Scripture is unsentimental about this. It does not flatter us; it diagnoses us. Paul warns of “perilous times” marked by disordered loves, pride, brutality, and moral confusion (2 Tim. 3:1–5). The psalmist reminds us not to put our trust in princes (Ps. 146:3). The Bible never suggests that progress can cure sin. So Christians should not be shocked when nations still lust for dominance, rulers still seize territory, strongmen still interpret restraint as weakness, and propaganda still recruits the crowd. This is not cynicism. It is biblical realism.
Pursuing Peace without Losing Moral Clarity
The West seems particularly ill-prepared. Some readers will instinctively recoil at language like this and assume I am advocating violence or normalizing war. I am doing neither. I am not calling Christians to celebrate war. I am calling them to reject delusion. At this point, some will still ask, But how can a Christian speak this way without advocating war? The answer is simple: to acknowledge the persistence of war is not to sanctify it. To recognize evil is not to endorse violence. A doctor does not celebrate disease because he refuses to deny its presence. In the same way, the Christian need not be a militarist to be morally serious. He can grieve bloodshed, pray for peace, and still reject the childish fiction that all aggressors can be reasoned into goodness.
The gospel commands us to love peace. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18). Our Lord blesses the peacemakers (Matt. 5:9). We are to pray for rulers and authorities, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life” (1 Tim. 2:1–2). But the pursuit of peace is not the same as the denial of evil. Peace is holy; naivety is not. There is a difference between being peaceable and being unprepared—between being hopeful and being blind.
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