So...I dove in and went to see this film while on vacation in AZ as it happened to be playing there in limited release. I went in hoping to be inspired and I left confused and unsure about it all. Here is the premise. Sam Childers ( a real person played in the film by Gerard Butler) is a former drug addict and biker gang member. He becomes a Christian and while on a mission trip to Africa, is moved by the horrible things taking place in Southern Sudan. Children are being kidnapped, forced to kill their own family members, sold into sex slavery, having their lips and arms hacked off, etc. etc. by the members of the demonic and evil Lord's Resistance Army. He decides to fight back and build a church/orphanage and work with the Sudanese Liberation Army. In the film we see him killing LRA soldiers and saving many children. We also see how hate begins to fill his heart as he constantly is torn between what he sees and his faith in Christ. This is where the film gets tricky...is it right to war against our enemies to the point of hunting them down and killing them? How does Christ see this? I am not making a judgment call at all here...I myself am torn. God tells us to stand up for justice and to protect the poor and the weak...which I believe Sam is and has done...but up to what point? Do we go out and kill?
In one scene of the film, a humanitarian aid worker tells Sam that his methods are just adding to the problem. She says, "We have enough guns"...Sam replies, "You fight your way, I'll fight mine"...(my paraphrase)....She then reminds him that the LRA's leader also began in a similar way, believing that by killing, he was fighting for justice...but look at him now...he is evil personified...
This is the warning that really got to me. When we begin to kill for what we believe are the "right reasons"...there are indoubtedly those on the opposite side who disagree and think that we are the "right ones to kill"...Obviously, there is NEVER a justification for killing and harming innocent children and families just trying to live out their lives...so I am in no way saying that the LRA is a good organization...the question remains...how then DO we fight as Christians? Jesus tells us to love our enemy...to offer the other cheek if we are struck on the first by an enemy...to go the extra mile when having been forced to go the first one...when sued to give more than we are being sued for...how does this line up when children's lives are being taken? Do we gather guns and fight fire with fire? What about not being overcome by evil but overcoming evil with good? How do we do that when we are faced with the most horrific evil you can imagine? What about the scripture that tells us God is pleased when his people "Love not their lives unto death.." meaning that they are willing to die before renouncing what Christ has done for them. Do we let ourselves be murdered if we can not escape? Do we fight back weapon for weapon?
This is not an easy question for me...it "seems" right to fight militarily when innocents are being killed...but is it? Do we instead put ourselves in the line of fire on their behalf and suffer death with them?
I think back to Nazi Germany. What if those who were ordered to kill, instead refused and were willing to die with their Jewish neighbors? If there had been no one willing to fight for Hitler, but all were willing to die instead, who would have started the war? One man? I just watched a documentary about young people today who were willing to say that they would kill and bury alive Jewish people if they would be killed for not obeying. They would kill others to save themselves for a few more years. This is today people...in AMERICA...
I would hope that, if I was ever in that type of position, I would have the peace of my salvation and say as Paul did, "To live is Christ, to die is gain" and allow myself to be killed instead. After all, isn't the most loving thing someone can do is to lay their lives down for a friend? Isn't that what scripture teaches us?
So...is Sam Childers wrong? I don't know. I believe he is doing the best he can in a horrible situation. Faced with the same choices, I don't know how I would choose to handle myself. I am sure some of his life was embellished to make a Hollywood movie more exciting or intense...but hopefully, he is seeking peace before war. Prayer before bullets.
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