A few days ago, the events in Ukraine have shaken the entire civilized world by their atrocities. Russia treacherously attacked its neighboring country of Ukraine. As Christians, we must express our disdain towards the situation and must say things as they are. This aggression is unjustifiable. The citizens of Ukrainian cities were attacked by the hail of bombs. The blood is spilled, the infrastructure is destroyed, and many people are losing their lives. War is a great evil which is of the devil who came as a thief in order “to steal, to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10), and we as Christians must call this evil.
John the Baptist took a firm stand while rebuking King Herod and paid the price of his life. Jesus Christ took a firm stand in rebuking the Pharisees and calling them “whitewashed tombs”. While being in the temple, he cast out everyone who was selling and buying saying: “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a robbers’ den” (Matt. 21:13). Jesus was not focusing on religious politics. That was the scribes and Pharisees. He called things out as they were. It is the politicians who are hiding their position through deception.
Unfortunately, there are Christians who are hiding behind Bible quotes while taking a stance that is essentially on the non-issues. Those people have either lost the discernment of good and evil or are afraid to call things out as they are. The prophet Isaiah said the following about his contemporaries: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness” (Is. 5:20). We are not engaging in politics, however, while observing the actions of one side against the other, based on the biblical, moral, and ethical points of view, we are witnesses of crimes that are covered up by political ambitions. From the early age we are teaching our children not to fight, not to take away the toys of another, not to cause harm to another, and we insist that these are simple concepts of good and evil. In the ten commandments, the Lord showed absolutes that are the model of behavior in society: “Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, though shall not cover what belongs to thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:13, 15, 17). The Bible is revealing to us God who is always on the side of good and does not support evil. “The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth” (Ps. 34:16).
Every day we are faced with a decision—to be a person who is the bearer of evil, or to the one who is filled with God’s love towards all people. The Lord warned Cain: “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Gen. 4:7). However, Cain was not able to stop, and as a result there was the first “war” on this planet when Cain rose up against his brother and killed him. Our world was covered by the first shedding of blood. In light of the war, we heard many warnings and were unwilling to accept the reality of war, but unfortunately, that is a reality now.
We are praying so that the Lord would show His mercy and stop this war. We are praying so that He would protect those who are protecting their land, their children, mothers, elderly, and the young. We are praying that through these circumstances, the Ukrainian people, along with the Christians around the world would call out to God and be witnesses of God’s special mercy and His power! We are also praying that the Lord would give both repentance and the regeneration to the leadership and the people of Russia because only repentance could bring to changes in behavior in regard to improving relations with other countries. The actual changes that people are so eager to see could come not as a result of threats of “nuclear warfare and military power”, but through brokenness and realization of personal moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
We as Christians are called to pray for peace and to bring the Gospel to all people as the only hope for the world! May God bless us in this!
Ivan Mileyev,
President of the Pacific Coast Slavic Baptist Association
