Few issues are as difficult or as complicated as the issue of war. Now that our nation is in the midst of military conflict in Iraq, youth leaders find themselves faced with the harrowing task of talking to their youth about these very touchy and complex matters. For adolescents who are developing intellectually—coming to grips with the fact that some moral questions cannot simply be answered with “yes” or “no,” “right” or “wrong”—the current crisis is a lot for their minds to digest. Keep in mind that many youth are too young to remember the first war with Iraq; and unless they have lived in other countries, this is the most significant military conflict of their lifetimes.

Moreover, youth have undoubtedly come into contact with people at school or at church who have very strong convictions about the war effort. Network television is saturated with images of bombings and protests as well as the voices of outspoken politicians and activists. Processing all of the information and emotion and drawing faith-informed conclusions about the current situation is no easy task.

If you would like to contribute your own thoughts on this subject, please visit the message board.

Kara Lassen Oliver—Director of Youth Ministry, Belmont United Methodist (Nashville, TN):

We are focusing on the war tonight for Wednesday night Bible study. I don't see how we can't. I feel strongly that youth should be introduced to, and provided with, the tools and perspectives of our Christian and Wesleyan tradition in order to form their own opinions and convictions about our world situation. I'm going to open with prayer 520 in the United Methodist Book of Worship. I'm also providing Bibles, Bible concordances, Bible dictionaries, United Methodist Hymnals, the Social Principles, the Handbook on Christian Theology, and newspapers. My hope is that the opening prayer will lead them to think about themes of peace, justice, war, faith, evil, prayer, and hope. Then the youth can dig into the variety of resources to explore these themes as they relate to the war in Iraq.

After sharing our insights, questions, concerns, and hopes for our world in light of our Christian calling and convictions we are moving to the chapel where we've invited the congregation to join us for "A Brief Service of Worship in Time of War" found at http://www.gbod.org/worship.

Sarah Arthur—freelance writer, editor of LinC:

German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "Mere waiting and looking on is not Christian behavior. The Christian is called to sympathy and action, not in the first place by his own sufferings, but by the sufferings of his brethren, for whose sake Christ suffered."

So whose side would Bonhoeffer be on in our situation, with that line of argument? One can only say "both." And nobody really wins, one way or the other. Our youth need to wrestle with that reality.

God does not choose sides, nor does [God] call every Christian to respond in exactly the same way as another. Christian soldiers-of which there are a good number (our brothers and sisters)-will have a very different calling than Christian politicians (also our brothers and sisters), who have a very different calling than Christian citizens, Christian pastors, Christian Iraqis, Christian missionaries in the Middle East, and so on. The intricate dance we do in youth ministry right now is helping each student discern his or her calling in response to this situation-which may be different than the person sitting next to them-while creating an atmosphere of grace and open-mindedness in which ultimate peace (however it is achieved) is the agreed-upon goal.

Mike Wright-Chapman—Coordinator of Ministries with Young People, North Texas Conference:

It is important for us to help our young people make decisions about their beliefs and our Book of Discipline offers us tools to use in making those decisions including what we call The Wesleyan Quadrilateral: What does scripture tell us about war? What does our Christian tradition tell us about war? What does our reason tell us about war? Finally, what does our experience tell us about war?

When one is passionate about something as world changing as war-for or against-it is very tempting to tell the young people in our lives that war is right or wrong. We must encourage them to know and articulate what they think about war and give them tools to help them decide. And if they ask our opinion we can tell them, but we must not demand that they adopt our truth as their truth. . . . I encourage dialogue, but I also encourage praying and working for peace. We can be peacemakers even in the midst of war talk by helping our youth talk peaceably about it.

Kyle Roberson—Director of Student Ministries, University Park UMC, Dallas, TX:

Instead of defining black and white, right or wrong, war or peace; be real. Open yourself up to students, share your fears and concerns (not answers) with them, and help them understand that we all live in the gray, that war may not be what we promote but that it is a reality; that there is confusion and fear and uncertainty but that we struggle through it in faith; that Christ matters; and that Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience must all be a part of the conversation they have with themselves and with others in working this out and processing these events for themselves. Faith is not a wartime novelty, something we cling to when times are tough or scary and the Biblical text. including the teachings of Christ, do not promote or condemn those on either side of this situation. Our faith in Christ is what we live every day, and the Scriptures sit among us in the circle where dialogue and conversation, processing and formation of identity and faith occurs. There is no bumper-sticker answer, no forwarded or chain email with flashy graphics, no anagram or three-point sermon that will answer these questions for them once and for all. Cherish the conversation because it is the conversation that is key. Christ didn't answer all questions, he helped those who asked them answer them for themselves. God's blessings and peace to you and yours in this time.

Rev. Mark Gainer, St. Paul United Methodist (Manchester, PA)

Yesterday, I led my youth in a discussion about the current status of the world. I directed them to Matthew 5:3-12. I challenged them to realize how paradoxical some of Jesus' teachings are in the eyes of the common person. I asked them to consider how any of these verses may have relevance to what our response to the conflict should be. Here is a paraphrased summary of what they came up with:

1. "Blessed are the peacemakers"—We must always try our best to make peace the ultimate goal, and it begins with each of us. In the midst of the conflict we must do all we can to show the love of Christ and not to berate those of other cultures and races. The other issue they mentioned was that even in The Bible sometimes conflict had to happen in order for there to be lasting peace. They also remembered that Christ said to pray for our enemies. So they felt that when we pray for our troops and leaders that we should also pray for the Iraqi military and leaders to come to their senses and do what's right.

2. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted" —We should do all we can to help those who are mourning the loss of loved ones in this conflict. Try to show the love of Christ by being there for them if they need us. We should also be ready to encourage fellow schoolmates who have family members in the military. Many of them have worries that they are harboring deep inside in an effort to try to "be strong".

3. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth"—The helpless ones in Iraq who have had to endure the leadership of Hussein's regime; who have been "stepped on" and used by him - they shall be vindicated. [While I realize that many of these Iraqis are not of the Christian faith, I was appreciative that the youth were concerned for their plight and thought they had some keen insight on this verse.]

© 2003 The United Methodist Publishing House. Permission is granted for copying for educational purposes.

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