Are you following the risen Christ or the empire that crucified Him?
“Christ appears to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection” by Alexander Ivanov. Credit: PICRYL.com. Public domain.
In the shadow of rising tensions and the talk of total war, we are seeing a deep split in how people of faith think about power and the lives of those across the ocean.
On one side, there are people who have gathered in quiet rooms and public squares to pray that the violence against Iran does not escalate. These people have stood firm in asking for accountability from leaders who talk about destroying a whole nation like Iran. They are reminding the world that even the highest leaders in government are not above the law of what is right.
On the other side, there are those who have picked up the Bible not to find peace, but to find an excuse for war.
This split shows us two very different paths within the life of the Church. One path follows the Resurrected Christ and his Mandatum to love one another. This was not just a nice suggestion or a dream for the far future. It was a clear order found in John 13:34, where Jesus says, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."
It is a clear order to see the image of God in every human being, no matter where they live or who their leaders are. To follow this path is to admit that the life of a person in Tehran is just as precious to the Creator as any other life. It is a promise to live by the Gospel, which seeks to protect life instead of cheering for its end, remembering that "blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
The other path is one we know well, even if it often hides behind religious words. It is the choice to follow the logic of the empire and the religious hypocrites who were the ones who killed Jesus.
In the Gospels, we see a system of power that thought any threat to its control should be crushed. When religious leaders and political rulers worked together to silence the Prince of Peace, they did it because they cared more about their own safety and power than the truth of God’s love.
They ignored the warning in Matthew 23:23 to those who "have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith."
Today, when the Bible is used to support the wiping out of a country, it is a return to that same old spirit.
Choosing to follow the Resurrected Christ means saying no to the idea that war is a necessary or holy tool for a country to get what it wants. It takes courage to speak the truth to the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of Defense when the promise to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age.”
We must insist that human lives are not pieces in a game of global strategy. To love as Christ loved is to stand against the drums of war and to work for a world where the Sacraments of our faith show up in our search for peace. We must remember the words of Romans 12:19, "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God."
In the end, we have to decide if we are serving the kingdom of God or the interests of an empire that tries to make the unthinkable seem okay.
