Would Jesus have gone to Vietnam?

I was asked the following question and thought others may have a similar question or an interest in the answer. This is a great question.

Dear Captain Gainey,

I believe your sermon two weeks or so ago was along the lines of "Mind Matters". You spoke of various purposes of the time spent in the Holiness meeting and of worship time. (I wish I had written to you immediately after the meeting, so each of the points you raised was still fresh in my mind!)

Yet I do recall you speaking about study, reflections and questions. You caused me to think that this might be a good opportunity for me to ask a question of you that has long been on my mind. I've spent some time, as in years, refining some religious concerns and questions, discussing it with some friends and relatives, until I am left with this rather simple WWJD question:

Would Jesus have gone to Vietnam?
A. If Yes, why?
B. If No, why not?



The following is my response:

To answer your question, I took a couple of days to pray, reflect, study, and ask questions to people much more astute than I. Here is what I have gathered:

First of all, I think we both know the polity of the question and the obvious biases that can accompany such a request of theological understanding. With that said, I think it is safe to first recognize that this question is based on one of two roles that Jesus would play...is he a soldier or the President? This will make a huge difference in the direction of the answer given.

Let's first assume that Jesus is the soldier. As such, Jesus would have served proudly and gone to war. Why? Because the Word of God tells us that we are to obey the government and its authorities as God himself places all authority in position. "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except hat which God has established. God has established the authorities that exist. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Romans 13:1-2 (NIV)
Despite the unpopularity of the conflict, Jesus would have been a mighty, courageous, and obedient soldier, submissive to the governing authorities.

Jesus as the governing official responsible for sending troops into the conflict is another matter. This would be to claim one of two things...either to know the mind of God or to believe that we see the whole picture and understand everything that is happening in the world, good, bad, or otherwise.
King Saul was a terrible king for Israel; this did not stop God from allowing Saul to be king. In fact, David, knowing that Saul had serious sanity issues, would not allow anyone, including himself, to bring harm to the king whom God had anointed and placed in authority. But if God places all authority in their positions, then we, being humble pots, created by the Potter, must approach even the horrific circumstances of the world knowing that God sees the entire picture. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)

We can't answer for Jesus what he would have done as President, after all, God did ordain war for the Israelites; war that seemed unfair and cruel. "When you go to war against your enemies...When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves...This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby." (These are cities other than the Promised Land). Deuteronomy 20:1-15 (NIV)
"In the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them..." Deuteronomy 20:16-17 (NIV)

Conclusion:
Jesus is an obedient soldier.
Jesus is a just leader.
The world is a place of ironies and is anything but fair. That is not the fault of anything other than sin and the fallen state of man. A perfect world is God's idea; the privilege of making decisions is man's desire; it is that privilege that causes us to make ungodly decisions. However, we still must remember to approach all that we hear and see with humility, as we still don't see the whole picture, including the justification for Vietnam.

My prayer is that this has helped in some capacity.

Thank you for the question and for your desire to be a "Thinking Christian."

Blessings,
Johnny

Willie and Wilma

Genesis 1:26-27
Willee and Wilma

God created the world for His pleasure and purpose and for no other reason. God’s will brings about life and not only life, but also life that creates life. When God makes investments, His investments multiply. His creative attributes are added to His creation and therefore, all that He made, that is living, is given the ability to create as well.
So why doesn’t God just keep making things, rather than have the plants and animals multiply themselves? The answer is found in God’s purpose for creation. He created the world to do His will. God decided that He would allow the honor of His design and desires to be given to the world that He created.
As a child, I was given the honor of growing up in the home of my grandparents. My grandfather, whom my brothers and I affectionately and “southernly” called Papa (Paw Paw), was a hard worker. In fact, he worked even when others were willing to work for him. His lawn was always mowed with his own hands on the mower. He wouldn’t allow anyone to bring him anything including his supper or his cigarettes.
My brothers and I loved our Papa and we looked for any opportunity to do something that he wanted done in order to gain his appreciation. Every once in a while, he’d ask one of us to go to the truck and get his checkbook out of the glove box. I remember, as a little boy, how excited I was to have him ask me to do that and I’d run out to the truck, grab his checkbook and run back in the house with a big proud smile on my face.
My brothers and I looked forward to the next time he’d ask us to do something for him, because those opportunities were rare and we were always jealous of the one who was asked. Why were we jealous? Shouldn’t we be happy for the one who was given the opportunity to do something for our Papa? Jealousy is a strange feeling.
My brothers and I lived in a house that was bought to provide for the needs of my grandparents and we jealously wanted to be a part of those provisions. You and I live in the world that was created to do God’s will. Everything that we do should be done with the consideration of bringing the greatest amount of glory and joy to the Creator. And when you and I are given the opportunity to run out and do something, no matter how great or menial, it should be done with a big smile on our face.
When God decided that he would no longer allow the world to be empty and void, serving only as a playground for Satan, He decided to create it in such a way that He would require something to be in charge of it. If God’s will was going to get done, He wanted to give the honor of doing it to His creation. The “Willer” required a “Willee” and a Wilma. His Willee and Wilma were both created in His image. So what does that mean? What is an image?
To understand this, you have to understand what an image is for. There are a few ideas of what being created in the image of God means and here are a couple. Some say that it means we were created to look like God. In other words, we have ears, eyes, feet, and hands, and so on like God. However, the Bible tells us that God is Spirit.
Another assumption is that we were created with God’s attributes; the ability to talk, think, reason, and create.
The true meaning is found in the Bible’s examples of what images were used for. The Hebrew word for image is transliterated Tse-lem, which also means idol. When people worshiped idols, it was for one reason…to receive. People created idols in order to get something from them. They would go to them for fertility, good crops, healing, wisdom, direction, and/or protection from their enemies. The offense toward God of going to an idol is that only God makes idols and he made you to be His idol, not to make idols. God made you and me so that He could go to us and ask for His will to be done by us. When it comes to doing the will of God, God doesn’t allow His Willees and Wilmas to delegate to other idols. Willee and Wilma alone were given the privilege of mowing his lawn, serving His meals, and getting his checkbook from the truck.
God is a jealous God. He is a God that doesn’t take kindly to a stranger borrowing His Bride. You are loved and provided for by a God who thinks you are the greatest thing that ever happened to Him.
One of the funniest stories that my mother ever tells of my brothers and me with my Papa is about the time that we were all going to Germany to live while my Dad was in the U.S. Army. My twin brother and I were less than a year old and Papa didn’t want us to go, so after my mother got my brother and me all dressed up for the plane ride, while she was in the bathroom, getting herself ready, Papa sat the two of us on his lap and gave us coffee from a spoon. We loved his coffee because he always put lots of sugar and cream in it. When my mother came into the living room to gather us up, we had coffee all over our new outfits and she was livid. Papa was so jealous of us leaving that he tried desperately to keep us from going, even if it meant delaying our leaving just for a few minutes to change our clothes.
God is doing all he can to keep you from being taken far away from Him. He is offering you and me opportunity after opportunity to do His will. He comes to you as an idol to wash His people’s feet, to give His message to the world, to give Him joy and to bring him glory. When God comes to you to get His will done, He feels just like you did as a child, when someone you looked up to asked you to get his or her check book, or sit on their lap while they read you a bedtime story. You receive honor from doing it, and God is honored to give you the opportunity.
Tonight when you get ready for bed, after you’ve read God’s Word and spoken to Him, think about your day and ask yourself, “Did I do the will of my Savior today? “Were there any requests that Jesus came to me to fulfill that I didn’t run out and do with a smile?” When it comes to the will of Jesus Christ you and I are the Willees and Wilmas that bring Him joy. We are those who sit on his lap, sipping His coffee in our new outfits, while others are working hard to take us far away. Christ is jealously requesting your attention, your time, and your service.

Anyone looking for a wife?

How many of you have had someone set you up or have had someone offer to set you up? Well what if you decided that you would place the job of finding a wife for you. What if you gave them a clear outline of how to find you a wife and they took it, tweaked it, and delivered their strategy as follows:
First, we’re going to approach someone on the street, at work, or at school and ask her if she is a Gainey (using my own name. You’re welcome to replace Gainey with your own name). If she says no, we will invite her to a building where no one actually lives, but a place where Gaineys get together and talk about being Gaineys.
She’ll come to the building where she will walk through the front doors and be greeted by a friendly stranger who will hand her a type printed list of what the Gaineys will be doing for the next hour. After she receives the printed to do list, she’ll be led into an elaborate living room that looks to be a cross between a theatre and a courtroom. She’ll be seated and the Gaineys will play music while she sits and waits for the happenings to begin. We won’t allow her to talk or ask questions in the meeting although she will be expected to sing along with the Gaineys as they sing songs she doesn’t know. Between songs, all the Gaineys will close their eyes and someone will talk to someone whom she can’t see, but all the Gaineys are sure is present. Then, the climax of the event will be her opportunity and privilege to listening to one of the Gaineys give a speech about being a Gainey and why anyone present who is not a Gainey should become one. After the speaking Gainey is finished, he or she will ask if anyone would like to be a Gainey. If she accepts the invitation, she will be asked to come to the front of the living room where someone will kneel down with her and speak to the invisible Gainey. She will be asked to verbally speak to the invisible Gainey herself and tell him she wants to be a Gainey.
If she does not accept this opportunity to become a Gainey, she will be told that she will be thrown into a fire where she will burn for all eternity.
I don’t think my friends would be too affective at finding me a wife with this plan. So why is this our plan for finding a Bride for the King of Kings?
Therefore GO (Not "Wait on them to come.") and MAKE DISCIPLES (Not "Chapel guests.") of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)


My wife became a Gainey because a Gainey was interested in her even before she thought about becoming a Gainey; a Gainey cared about what made her laugh, what made her cry, what made her angry, what made her feel peaceful, joyful, even restful. I didn’t promise her a future full of bliss and heaven, or even warn her that life without me would be hell; I simply cared and she learned to love me too and wanted to be a Gainey. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5: 8) NIV. Now there’s a plan for finding a bride, even a bride for the King of kings.

Many Blessings,
Johnny

Jesus would have liked to color.

I and others have often considered the fact that there are no recordings of Jesus writing anything. Although he went to school like all other Jewish boys where he must have learned to read and write, we have no documentation of anything that he wrote as an adult.

I think (if what I think should actually matter) that there are a couple of reasons for this.

First of all, if Jesus would have written a gospel about himself, the entire canon would consist of the Old Testament and the Gospel according to Jesus. After all, what more could be said that any scholar would consider worth printing. I mean, would I read the gospel of Jesus and then read the letters of Paul? I don't know. The entire measuring tool of the canon of Scripture would have an entire different meaning.

Second, I believe that Christ, speaking Aramaic, a very simple language would have been more apt to put his gospel out as a coloring book. After all, He would have chosen to keep it simple. That would sure throw a wrench in having a King James Version coloring book of the gospel of Jesus. "Useth a green crayon hereth, to coloreth thou picture." Just doesn't seem to fit.

Jesus would have kept the gospel so simple that we could never have been able to argue such
things as:
What is worship?
What is baptism?
Why do we tithe and what is tithing for the New Testament believer?
Which version of the Bible should we use?
Is hell eternal?
or
Are we saved once and for all or is our salvation dependent upon a continual faith in Christ?

I'm glad we have the deep theological writings of Paul, Peter, John, Luke, Matthew, and the other New Testament writers that keep the scholars busy, but I would have loved to have seen Jesus's coloring book...simple, clear, colorful.

Have a wonderful day as you color away.

Johnny