Following Jesus During a War in the Middle East

How are you processing what’s going down in Israel and Gaza? I’m gutted. This morning I made the mistake of reading past the headlines a bit so I could write a couple coherent words about it. Bad idea. Now I’m hoping to finish this email and get it out before I’m totally depressed.

And you know what? I can hear the voice in my head saying how ridiculous I am for sharing my pain when pain beyond my comprehension multiplies by the hour nine hours east of me. 

If I didn’t think you might let your kids read this, I’d probably swear. 

How do people like us, presumably Jesus-first people, oddballs who advocate for loving Muslims and telling them good news, people who aren’t totally stupid, think about and deal with a situation like this?

1. We keep our mouths shut. We don’t engage in fruitless fights. We don’t share spurious or incendiary information online. 
2. We speak up. With love and humility, in our circles we don’t let all Palestinians be painted as “human animals.” With wisdom and balance, we speak of hope for Christ’s kingdom. With humility, we consider the possible complicity of our country. 
3. We talk to God. We pray for the families of Israelis who lost their lives, for those held hostage, for those injured or now paralyzed by fear. Believing our theology, we pray for members of Hamas, though their deeds are evil and reprehensible. We pray for the 2.1 million people of Gaza who are rapidly running out of water and food, electricity and fuel. 

I’d love to hear how you’re praying and what you're thinking today. You may enjoy praying along with this video prayer for Gaza and the West Bank by an Arab brother and our friends at PrayerCast.