What are the Christians Saying?

Here is a quote from the book "The Irresistable Revolution." Shane Claiborne is talking about his trip to Irag during the heat of the war.


The bishop went on to tell me that the church in the Middle East was deeply concerned about the church in the United States. He said, "Many Americans are for this war."
I nodded.
And He asked, "But what are the Christians saying?"
My heart sank. I tried to explain to him that many of the Christians in the US are confused and hope that this is a way God could liberate the Iraqi people.
He shook his head and said, very humbly, "But we Christians do not believe that. We believe 'blessed are the peacemakers.' We believe that if you pick up the sword, you die by the sword. We believe in the cross." Tears welled up in my eyes as he said, "We will be praying for you. We will be praying for the church in the US. . . to be the church."" (Claiborne, 212)

"But what are the Christians saying?"

This line didn't really jump out at me while reading the book, but when I heard it on the audio book sometime later, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Here is a man who is a Christian, living in a "Muslim" nation, getting bombed by a "Christian" nation, talking with a Christian from the "Christian" nation, asking him what the other Christians in the "Christian" nation are saying about the war. He couldn't understand how the Christians in America would sit in silence while the non-Christians did this to his country. Little did he know that a bulk of the support of the war came from the very people he thought were on his side, and that many of the soldiers driving by in there Humvees were Christians as well. Being from Iraq, he has probably lived in "terror" most of his life. Here he is though, in the middle of bombs landing all around him, seeing not just the terrorist getting hit, but also hospitals and civilian homes, and he quotes Jesus. He says "'blessed are the peacemakers.' We believe that if you pick up the sword, you die by the sword. We believe in the cross." America was hit with one terrorist attack and immediately cried out for justice, revenge, no matter what the cost, and I was right there with them. Where were the Christians saying "Hold on, aren't we supposed to love our enemies? Aren't we supposed to pray for those who persecute us?" It's been eight years, and I have finally started realizing that our country did not listen to Jesus' teachings. My stance on these issues have been changing. I guess you can say that the bishop's prayer, "We will be praying for the church in the US. . . to be the church" is being answered. I join his prayer, and hope that through our love we can help spread the Love of Christ.