With the “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6) of our 21st Century world, many Christians are wondering what God’s Word within the Bible says to us about such things. In particular, with Russia’s war against Ukraine in Eastern Europe and with “rumors of wars” brewing between China and Taiwan in the Western Pacific, I’ve been hearing questions about what the Bible has to say (especially the New Testament) regarding all of this. So, I thought I’d use my church article this month to do some biblical and theological reflections concerning war and peace from a Lutheran perspective.
Lutheran Christians have traditionally followed the Two Kingdoms Doctrine in our understanding of the relationship of Church and State. Rooted in the Holy Scriptures, this doctrine affirms that God established two primary realms of societal order: 1) the kingdom of God’s right hand, and 2) the kingdom of God’s left hand. Simply put, the so-called kingdom of God’s right hand is the Church and the kingdom of God’s left hand is the State.
Specifically, the kingdom of God’s left hand refers to the State’s God-given responsibility for law enforcement and military service for the sake of an orderly and peaceable society. As it says in Romans chapter 13, God has instituted the governing authorities “to bear the sword” (13:4) to exact justice upon the wrongdoer. As a result, Lutheran Christians have always honored the vocations of law enforcement and military service as God-ordained functions within society for the sake of good order.
Therefore, the kingdom of God’s left hand (the State) is the realm of law, justice and peacekeeping. While at the same time, the kingdom of God’s right hand (the Church) is the realm of forgiveness, mercy and peacemaking. And with both peacekeeping on one hand and peacemaking on the other, the whole structure of human society functions and thrives.
Now, as we apply this Two Kingdoms Doctrine to what’s going on in our globalized world today, we can acknowledge the important role of our armed forces in defending democracy, liberty and commerce. For example, if there was no United States Navy defending freedom of navigation then the seaways would be strangled by authoritarian autocrats and pirate warlords. Consequently, since the end of WWII our governing authorities have worked to cooperate with other democratic nations of the world to maintain the most peaceful and prosperous era in human history (broadly speaking, of course).
Functioning as the so-called kingdom of God’s left hand, our governing authorities have exercised the peacekeeping role of the State according to the longstanding foreign policy principle of peace through strength. As the Roman Christian, nobleman and scholar of the late 300’s AD, Flavius Vegetius Renatus, famously wrote, “If you want peace then prepare for war” (Si vis pacem para bellum). But of course, “The soldier above all others prays for peace” (General Douglas MacArthur).
On the other hand, the Church (the kingdom of God’s right hand) worships the Prince of Peace, so we always seek to faithfully exercise our role as peacemakers within our world according to the eternal principles of the gospel…
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45).
We recognize that the kingdom of God’s left hand (the State) in its peacekeeping role and the kingdom of God’s right hand (the Church) in its peacemaking role are both essential. And we also recognize that people of faith who have been called into law enforcement or military service are uniquely positioned by God to operate within both realms, and they offer us a great bridge of understanding. For example, I proudly served in our armed forces in the USAF as a young man. But as a Christian, I’m also called to be a builder of bridges for understanding and peace.
In the face of wars and rumors of wars in these times, we acknowledge the important role of our peacekeeping forces, but we Christians also continually seek peacemaking solutions and peaceful resolutions within our world — always looking toward the great and glorious Day of the Lord when “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
And so, with one voice in universal chorus, we exclaim, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:21).
Grace & Peace, Pastor Tim
