“For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again.”
Jesus was a big fan of pointing out that we get back what we put out; that what goes around, comes around: that we get what we deserve. Christians, on the other hand, are not such big fans of this concept. They prefer to see their suffering as “God’s will”, God’s “mysterious” will that they somehow just have to endure and that somehow has meaning, though at the time the meaning may be beyond them. I blame their pastors, in part, for keeping them ignorant of the basic spiritual premise of what goes around, comes around. But ultimately, it’s up to each individual Christian to know what Jesus taught us. You can blame your pastor for your initial ignorance, but when your ignorance becomes an enduring state, the blame falls squarely on you.
Even as recently as a few decades ago, whole Christian nations would march off to war, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Christians don’t kill. There has never been one genuine Christian in all of history who has taken up a weapon to kill, and if that one genuine Christian did kill, the murder would have been followed in quick succession by wholehearted and sincere repentance, with the promise never to murder again. And yet, throughout the past 2000 years, nations and peoples and individuals who call themselves Christian have marched off to war, weapons in hand and willingly aiming them at whoever their commanders tell them to aim them at. For a time, the weapons are aimed at this nation, and for a time, at that nation, and for a time, at another nation with the combined support of the first and second nations, as they are now no longer enemies.
And all the so-called Christians fighting for the so-called Christian nations see no contradiction between their mass slaughter and Jesus’ teachings, between their mass slaughter and suffering the rewards of it.
It’s easier to pinpoint depravity as a reason for the decline of a civilization. But the truth is that murder at the behest of the state is probably the main reason for the precipitous overall declines of former Christian nations. Your country doesn’t magically become better because people kill others in its defense. There is no improvement whatsoever when that happens. On the contrary, death is the reward of death – those who live by the sword, die by the sword. You do not sow bad and reap good from it. If you kill or actively support killing, you get the due rewards of death.
Every pastor who has led his flock in prayer for the “success” of a nation’s troops or military mission has no right to call himself a pastor. He is instead a demon-channeler who is channeling the commands of Satan straight from the source. The world glorifies war and those who fight them because the world is under the authority of Satan, but Christians are not supposed to be under the authority of Satan; that’s why Jesus died and rose again, to show he had gained victory over the world and the world’s authority. We know from the Commandment that there is no excuse – NOT ONE – for murdering. There are zero excuses or exceptions to take one’s own or another’s life. Self-defence is not an excuse. Defence of loved ones is not an excuse. Being ordered by the state to do so is not an excuse. There are zero excuses at any time, and yet nearly the entire 2000-year history of Christianity is sodden with murder committed as alleged Christians fight for allegedly Christian nations or even, at times, against other alleged Christian nations.
Do you have any idea how much of a hoot this is for the devil, to have so many Christians so blinded and so willingly doing his bidding?
There is no excuse for any of this. Ignorance doesn’t cut it anymore. You support troops or you support killing in any way, you are not a Christian.
Based on that assessment, has there ever truly been a Christian nation?
No, of course not. There is no such thing as a Christian nation. There are countries that have more or fewer Christians living in them, but a worldly nation by definition cannot be Christian. There have never been Christian nations or Christian wars or “holy wars” – even the crusades were Satan-inspired and demon-fuelled. We have been deceived for 2000 years into thinking God looks the other way when it’s wartime, that we can kill with impunity and with his blessing.
But we were wrong.
Christians don’t kill.
No genuine follower of Jesus at any time in history has ever picked up a weapon with the intention of killing. It has never happened. Not once. People who call themselves Christian have engaged in all manner of nefarious activities, but genuine Christians have not. “By their fruits shall ye know them…. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Jesus could not have made it any clearer than that. He could not have made it any clearer than “those who live by the sword, die by the sword”.
He could not have made it any clearer than “Thou shalt not kill.”
Whatever wars our respective nations are now involved in, you dare not support them or you are no follower of Jesus. You might be a state-sanctioned and -approved Christian, but you won’t be a Christian in God’s eyes.
The measure we mete out is the measure we get in return.
There is never a time when war or the support of war is genuinely Christian.
A BORN-AGAIN BELIEVER 
Agreed. However, without those crusades, wars and “Christian” nations chances are you would not be a Christian, because most Christians today are descendants of people who were at some point of history forcibly converted and some other agressive religion might have forcibly convert, or killed the few “true” Christians. Jesus told his followers also to give up all their money and not have any children. Are you a true Christian on those regards? How many Christians would there be, if all had followed those instructions from early on?
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Thanks for dropping by and for your comment. However, I’m wondering — where did Jesus tell his followers to give up all their money? I have none to give up (as God well knows), but if I did, I would gladly give it up. I’m just not sure where you’re getting that directive.
As for children, I don’t have any.
Whether or not nations would have been “Christian” if it were not for the crusades and other wars, that is a hypothetical assumption. The state-sanctioned form of Christianity isn’t really Christianity, as I’ve noted here and elsewhere. If Jesus’ followers had continued to be persecuted throughout the ages, I don’t think there would have been any fewer genuine Christians than there are today.
Case in point: I wasn’t reborn because I was preached to; I was reborn because I made a choice to forgive. You don’t need any knowledge of scripture or even to know about Jesus to make the choice to forgive. My knowledge of scripture and Jesus came after my conversion, not before. Everything I know since my conversion has come by way of God’s Holy Spirit, so even under persecution or absent a Bible, one can still be reborn. You don’t need any external paraphernalia or to be preached to — you just need to repent. God will provide all the rest.
Think of the prophet who was fed by ravens in the wilderness or Jesus being tended to by angels after his 40-day fast. Even if all the Bibles in the world were destroyed and Christianity was banned on pain of death, people would still come to God, as long as there is still time.
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Scripture tells us to sell what we have and to give to the poor; it doesn’t tell us to give up all our money. The disciples always had a store of cash on them for their daily needs (Judas Iscariot, until his betrayal, was tasked with keeping and allocating the funds), and Paul and others, after Jesus’ crucifixion, speak occasionally about soliciting donations from the faithful. So yes, followers of Jesus have a certain amount of money to cover their daily needs. Scripture doesn’t offer any guidance otherwise. In fact, Jesus, on the night before his crucifixion, told his disciples always to carry money with them from that point onward, as they’d be numbered among the outlaws and could no longer count on good will donations of food and lodging from the general public.
As for your other assertions in your second comment, you were way out of line and I have deleted it. This is a blog for born-again believers. You’re welcome to comment here, as long as your comments are civil.
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I am sorry, that I commented here at all. I found your post as presenting a fresh and interresting perspective and thought we could discuss it from our own point of views. I had not checked your about page (as I should have) before commenting and did not know this blog was meant as a safe haven for born again Christians. I am not a Christian at all and never have I been one. Born again Christian is an alien and strange term to me. I did not realize you would feel my comments as “out of line” and I thought I was discussing the issue in quite civil terms referring to Biblical stories and history as fairly universally known. The story about Ananias and Saphira is quite repulsive, on that I agree, but it is in the book, so I did not expect you to see it as “out of line”. I added my own moral sentiment on the logical conclusion of only a few true Christians existing, as you suggest is the state of affairs. You are the monarch of your blog and decide what is appropriate. I do not apologise for my opinions, but I do apologise having offended you and having intruded your safe space. I do not know your understanding of civil and have no way of guessing where your limits might be. I shall not disturb you further and I wish you well.
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You can offend me as much as you want (water off a duck’s back), but the second you talk trash about my Father, you’re outta here. That’s why I deleted your previous comment. What happened to the two people who were dishonest in presenting their gifts is not repulsive to me at all. It’s a cautionary tale. Admission into God’s Kingdom is not for those who lie and cheat and steal. They got what was coming to them, as we all do, one way or another, when we violate God’s very well-publicized and perfectly just code of conduct.
I understand how alien the concept of born-again Christian must be to you, as I was an atheist well into my adult years. But yes, this is a virtual safe space for believers, and yes, I do police the comment section.
I accept your apology and I also wish you well.
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