I had been intentionally ignoring the headlines about the Israel-Palestine war. It felt like my brain couldn’t soak in another catastrophe that I could do so little about.
But I couldn’t avoid noticing the polarizing sentiments of support around the conflict, seeing Israel flags and Palestine flags pop up on my Facebook friends’ profile pictures. As a pastor, hearing side conversations here and there of Christians discussing the war. I’d get targeted ads online telling me Christians need to support Israel. And I’d see more and more justice rallies popping up, most from my left-leaning and/or non-Christian friends, about supporting Palestine.
All the while, I have no real clue about what’s actually going on in Israel-Palestine. Transparently and in confession as I type this (I’m not proud of this, but I hope my transparency helps make this topic more approachable for you), the thoughts I had about it were put there indirectly by my American Christian culture. Thoughts like:
Well, Israel is the Promised Land in the Old Testament. I guess the Jews still have a right to it.
Well, the Palestinians are Muslims. Conflict over this land is talked about in the Bible, both back then and on into the future. I guess this is inevitable.
And even stray thoughts about Muslim jihad.
I was uneducated and had never heard an actual human who this conflict was affecting give their perspective. I was listening to social media taglines and had never listened to an actual person.
I’m not writing this to try to change anyone’s side or to create a discussion board war zone for online grenades to be lobbed back and forth (those will be deleted). I’m writing this because when I listened to these six interviews from the Theology in the Raw podcast, it put a face on the Israel-Palestine conflict. It humanized it. It educated me. And it showed me what I can be praying for. Instead of praying blind, ignorant prayers, I can now pray personal prayers as I understand some of the complexity of what is going on in the Holy Land, and the lives affected by it.
I’d encourage you to listen to all of these, but if you can’t, at least pick one. The only comments that will be accepted on this post or on social media are from people who have listened to at least one of the interviews. My suggestion is start with one of the Palestinian Christians.
It is always healthy when our world gets bigger and when we humanize conflict. It is always healthy (and commanded by God) that we grow in acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). Thank you to these six guests and host Preston Sprinkle for helping me grow in these areas:
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He is:
Author of Beyond the Battle: A man's guide to his identity in Christ in an oversexualized world
Host of the The Flip Side Podcast
Join an online men's small group led by Noah and team at BeyondTheBattle.net
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