Christian Lessons From WW1

Been studying WW1 history. What a nightmare, a four-year horror show which changed the world.

The worst war that this world has ever seen, as far as large scale human suffering is concerned was this war. And if you think about it, it was mostly waged by Christians against other Christians. All competing for land, money and “glory”. There are remarkable lessons there for us all.

What particularly interests me about this war was that most of the major actors, and particularly the ones that played a major role we’re supposed Christian nations. So called Christendom was at war with itself.

Most of Europe were Christians. Protestants in Germany, Catholics in France and Italy, Orthodox Christians in Russia, and Church of England in England.

In WW2 unlike WW1 everyone was fighting blatant evil in Hitler and the cult in the Japanese government.

But in WW1 it was primarily Christian dominated governments fighting for money, land, and power.

At the start of WW1 most people were excited to get into it for “glory”. It was almost like a sport for many involved.

But how quickly their thinking changed after 1914.

I believe God allowed that war to break something in his people. An evil stronghold needed to be broken in them, it was a twisted love of the world. A lust for human government, for wealth, and for power. It was a Christian cooperation with the principalities and powers in the kingdom of darkness and it resulted in unspeakable suffering, 22 million deaths, and widespread famine. In a part of the world that was normally quite prosperous.

That is what Christians do when we go after government, to supply us power and money, we join Satan’s kingdom of darkness. We cooperate with and we submit to him. Even to the point killing our brethren for an deceptively evil idea of personal ‘glory’.

“War” On Earth

Seeing and realizing the magnitude of who is Jesus Christ is one thing. It starts little then it grows forever into eternity, if we are willing to keep looking, and to keep seeking.

But, responding appropriately to the sight of him is entirely another thing all together. That is the real test of our lives. Response to him has little to do with where we go on Sunday mornings. Religious traditions and habits have been surpassed and made almost irrelevant.

When Jesus prayed “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” this was an act of war on earth, here among the nations of mankind. War against Satan and all his loyal children occupying government’s and religion’s and systems of money.

“…after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.” – 1 Cor 15:23-24

Jesus Christ has enemies still wreaking havoc in the earth. But, He is personally subduing them through his ecclesia (the church). This can be seen in real time all over the earth. Sometimes through political activities, sometimes through war, other times through economics and many other ways too complex and subtle to even point to. 

When our Lord Jesus brought himself down to earth, things began to change down here. Satan was confused and did not understand how to react to it. He first tried to subdue and trick him then he went straight to violence and death. Satan does not want to yield.

And just when we think we can pick up some weapon of human warfare (military, politics, human governments, capitalism, communism) to help Jesus or control this process that Jesus is accomplishing, that weapon itself blows up in our faces. It truly is His battle, it is His place to put His enemies under His feet. We get to cooperate and help him only to the extent and the degree that we are yielded wholly to him, moment by moment. 

When I think of the Lord Jesus now I no longer think “haha heaven when I die”, I think “haha heaven coming down to earth”. Thinking this way is dangerous, it can make for a lot of enemies still. But thinking this way is the most accurate way to think which is consistent with reality.

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