As far as war movies go, Letters From Iwo Jima is amongst the best. Given the outcome of the battle, the audience is invited to see the movie through a different lens than most war movies. All of the main characters were well developed, and the ultimate message that "the enemy" is not the propaganda-fed monster void of morals, but in fact, people just like us, with mothers and homes and conflicted inner voices.

War movies always bring me back to the God-questions. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures commands the Israelites to completely destroy a group of people - including, explicitly, women and children - with alarming regularity. Given the sinful nature of the Israelites, the nation of people God triumphs as His own, it's hard for me to reconcile these acts with the God Jesus introduces us to. And of course, they're the same God, but my head swims in it and before too long I'm just barely treading water.

When Jesus says "Go and make disciples of all nations" it's hard to picture Him in David's shoes, wiping out entire nations with His sword. Of course, if I read Revelations, it's clear that the God of the Gospels and the God of the Hebrew Scriptures have something in common.

These types of questions take me in difficult directions, ones seemingly dangerous to my faith. Of course, I believe that it's necessary to struggle with those types of questions if you want your faith to hold up under the pressures of life. I know this much - I'm not looking for a way out. There's no answer that would make me feel that Jesus' Way isn't the best possible way to live my life. There's nothing in these questions that would make me reject my faith in God, simply because what I've seen with my eyes and heard with my ears is the ultimate trump card. And yet, there's a part of me that desperately wants to accept fully the God of the Israelites, so I will turn into the questions rather than ignoring them.

So, friends, how have you dealt with this age-old question? I assume no one has a satisfying answer or else it'd be one of the first things you were taught in Sunday school ("Welcome to Christianity, and when you get to Judges, keep this in mind..."), but I'm sure that at least a few of you have struggled with these questions and I want to learn from you experiences and wisdom. Comments are open to everyone.

Labels: Jesus