FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP / ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
In a world where a majority of people want to be the “top dogs,” there needs to be an appeal like the one that is topicalized: “Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another.”
The advice from the writings of the apostle Peter, “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders,” was addressed primarily to the young. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5 NKJV)
Yes, the exhibition of pride is creating much havoc today. What we are seeing in the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas is the expression of the pride of nations. Russia wants to dominate Ukrainian land and people to show how powerful it is. The “proud” Ukrainian people are fighting for their liberty from the domination of Russia. In Gaza, the Israelis are fighting to their death because they want to make sure that they get revenge for the atrocities of October 7th perpetrated by Hamas, which killed about 1400 of their people and over 200 taken hostage.
On the other hand, Hamas is claiming that it is protecting the rights of the Palestinian people. And to this extent, it is willing to fight to the very end the Israelis’ response to their attack. At the moment of writing, the claim is that Israel’s response has taken the lives of more than 8500 Palestinians, which includes more than 3000 children. A majority of ambassadors in the United Nations are calling for a cease-fire, but the Prime Minister of Israel has made it clear that there will be no cease-fire until the goal is attained of removing Hamas.
Yes, the pride of nations is at the heart of that which is causing so many wars in the world today. Some of the thinkers who have experienced warfare have taken note of the pride of nations in the following way:
- Norman Schwarzkopf, confessing the fate of Desert Storm, says, “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”
- The British philosopher Bertram Russell states, “War does not determine who is right – only who is left.”
- Howard Thurman, one of America’s great theologians, says, “During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism.”
- The writer Ernest Hemingway states, “There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.”
- General William Tecumseh Sherman said, “I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell.”
The expression of national pride has its contradictions. While it helps to make people feel that they have a home to which they belong, when it leads to prejudice and armed conflicts, it is profoundly detrimental. What is being expressed in the waring of nations today is unadulterated evil. And there is no question about how much the youth are being affected. I have heard the observation, and it is correct, that when young people see their parents and friends dying from weapons of war, it makes them more fearful and hateful than they usually might have been.
Some time ago, I heard one Palestinian mother saying that she was allowing her child to suck her breast so that he would hate the Jews. Yes, not only are there immediate tragedies in the wars as they are being fought now, but the devil is getting the minds of our youth so twisted with the falsity of prideful wars that they are moving into a future in which warfare will only be a cycle. What is being seen in the demonstrations on college and university campuses might be a simple interest today, but the future is bleak if we live in the falsity of pride.
I do not know that I need to direct this reflection on “clothing yourselves with humility to one another” to the young, although it seems clear to me that such an appeal should be given at some point since the high-brow behavior of many youths today is to disregard any counsel or advice of the aged. Those who are old are, in many quarters, being cast aside. And their ideas have been thought to be “old hat.” But let me trust that anyone who reads this reflection can take the sound advice of those I have quoted above.
Yes, pride is evil; it leads to war, and to avoid warfare, we need to clothe our hearts with humility. As I see it, pride causes:
1. Rebellion – Rebellion is not just a problem of youth but is a challenge for all humanity, even as the devil seeks to lead every heart away from God.
2. Denial of truth – We have seen that in warfare, it is challenging to know what is truth and what to believe.
3. Refusal to accept needed help, even the help of God.
4. Refusal to take advice- This appears to be a way of life for many people. To show how “smart” they are, they will not accept any advice, and they get into more trouble than is warranted. Is there a lesson that we can learn from those who missed the intelligence in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas?
5. Refusal to forgive – Nothing is worse than hurt pride nurtured in the heart. The seeds of resentment between Israel and the Palestinians are bearing the fruits of warfare now.
In effect, there are individual and personal lessons to learn about the prideful warfare of nations. We need to learn how to clothe ourselves with humility and make ourselves less puffed up intentionally. In the stream I write, we need to learn that humility can only happen as we submit ourselves to the authority of the divine. And we must also learn to love as the divine loves, even the enemy.
