THEM VERSUS US: Vices that the Gaza conflict exposed

On 11 December 2023, the heartbreaking numbers in Gaza read as follows:

Killed: At least 17,700

• Including at least: 7,729 children and 5,153 women

Injured: At least 48,780

• With no hospitals or facilities available for those injured

Missing: At least 7,780

• Of whom most are buried in the rubble of bombed buildings

Half of the population is starving

Displaced: 2 million of the total population of 2.2 million

 

Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant justified a “complete siege” in Gaza after the 7 October attacks on Israel as follows:  “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly”.  With this statement, he equated all Palestinians – women, children, men and women – to animals.  Sadly, this attitude of dividing victims into “them” and “us”, where it seems to be easier to digest when an enemy suffers than when a friend suffers, has also become a trademark of many Christian commentators.

We will not make any sense of the conflict in Gaza as long as we try to understand it with this dualistic mindset.

A Christian vice that is currently under a magnifying lens for all to see is how believers look at wars through dualistic lenses.  For many believers, the killing of a baby in Israel is more detestable than the dismembered body of a baby in Gaza.  We seem to obtain the unbiblical ability to view the value of life based on our cultural preferences and preconceived biases.  We divide people, nations, religions, and even the value of souls into “them” and “us”.  Dualism is the sin of our season.

Richard Rohr explains dualistic thinking like this: “The dualistic mind is essentially the binary, either/or thinking. It knows by comparison, opposition, and differentiation. It uses descriptive words like good/evil, pretty/ugly, smart/stupid, not realizing there may be a hundred degrees between the two ends of each spectrum.”

Rohr also comments that dualism “is the ego’s preferred way of seeing reality. It is the ordinary ‘hardware’ of almost all Western people, even those who think of themselves as Christians.”  Nondualism, on the other hand, transcends differences and dichotomies.  It brings unity rather than division.

Missionaries – and I have been especially guilty of this in the past – have always portrayed Muslims as “them” – those who need Christ – and “us” – those who have Christ. This created a dualistic culture within the church that is so evident in our approach to the conflict in Gaza at the moment.  “They need Jesus” is our natural default Christian response.  No!  “We need Jesus”.  The Biblical truth is that there is no “us” and “them” when it comes to redemption, we are all sinners, and we all fall short of the glory of god[1].   I need Christ as much as the Hamas terrorist and the IDF fighter needs Christ.  I am not saved because of who I am, I am saved because of who Christ is.

In our zeal to take the Good News of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, we have elevated our position within the Kingdom to an owner of salvation instead of a beneficiary of salvation.

The truth is that missions, in essence, is simply one beggar telling another beggar where to get food.  Sadly, this is not what transpired.  We have created an unbiblical dualism that accepts that “their” suffering is less than “our” suffering because we are Christian, and they are not.

It is equally heartbreaking that we as Christians are now applying this dualism within the body of Christ and demonizing those who disagree with us. If you stand with Israel do so with conviction but with love towards their enemies as well.  By doing so you will fulfill the words of Christ who walked in occupied Palestine during his time on earth.

Someone recently shared the following testimony of Bill Johnson, a Pastor in California.  He was asked the following question:

“I notice that you never talk about people. You never talk badly about people. I’m wondering what’s going on in your heart? How did you discipline yourself to NEVER speak negatively of other people, even people who are sometimes a pain?”

Bill, with tears running down his cheeks, said…

“I fear Jesus in them. I fear that I would speak badly about someone made in the image of God, someone that is so valued by God that Jesus died for them. I fear that I would portray them as something less valuable than that. I fear how God would deal with a person who would betray the people made in His image.”

Can we fear the Jesus in Hamasor is this too far-fetched?  Can we recalibrate with the theopolitical principles we were transformed into when we accepted Christ as our Master and Lord.  Can we take our assignment to the next level by weeping for those whom the world despises but whom Christ died for.

Oh, may God have mercy on us

[1] Romans 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,