God and War

So, I think I've mentioned I'm working part time at a Christian school in town.  It has been really really interesting lately.  Not only the things I remember about myself at that age, but also the things I see within the class community [the jock, the dork, the preppy girl, etc].

A few weeks ago I lead class since the lead teacher was absent for the day, and it was just easier than having the substitute try to lead.  We always start out with devotions, prayer requests and then the pledge.  Prayer requests in themselves are pretty interesting, to see what matters, and to see what trends [the other day, someone said something about teenagers ringing the doorbell at their house as a prank, and it was a request because the kids parents have a new job, and need sleep.  Anyway, totally trended, and all of the sudden everyone had hands raised in order to add that they had been pranked too].

The devotions I lead that day, had something to do with being far away from God, and the response questions were about imagining a world where there wasn't a God, and what it would look like.  I came up with things like, being lonely at times, and missing the comfort in knowing God has a plan and will take care of me.  These kiddos though, leaned much more towards things like, the world would be at war, and there would be a lot of murder and killing.

What I wanted to say, was something along the lines of, 1. God is here in the world, and there is still a lot of murder and killing and wars.  And 2. God actually was a big part of old testament wars.  He not only sent communities into war, but guided them in success or failure.

But you can't say that to a bunch of 4th and 5th graders.

They might get it....maybe.... but even so, they might also go home to their parents and ask questions about what Mrs. P said about God being around with wars and murder and killing.

I wonder if it's good to teach children black and white.  Because the older I get, and the more I study the bible, the more grey everything seems.  The more difficult it seams to hold onto the black and white truths most Christians sight in their politics, and morals.

I think that might have been the other thing that struck me.  Morals.  I had a friend [an atheist], who once said to another friend, "Just because I don't believe in any God, doesn't mean I don't have morals!"  And it's an interesting concept, because Christians often believe because they are Christians they have a higher moral calling than other people who don't believe in Christ.  When the truth is individuals from both Christians and unbelievers can hold moral values.... and individuals from both groups can also be amoral.

So likewise, I guess I have a bit of faith in humanity, that if God were to leave earth, things wouldn't all go to war and killing right away.  And I guess I also value more the personal connection I have with Christ.

Anyway, it was interesting to think about and hear them talk about.

-mrp-

ps: their bonus word on their spelling test today was "chagrin"... I looked at it, and thought, "seriously!?"... then we had a conversation about what it meant [I googled that shit to make sure I was right ;)].