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The other day I had the pleasure of giving a reference for a friend of mine who was applying to be a missionary with MCC.
The charity provided a form for me to fill out and I had to rate him on
a number of characteristics. For the most part, it covered general
qualities such as "Christian Faith and Commitment", “Creativity”, and
“Leadership Skills”. Although I attend a Mennonite Brethren church I
was a bit surprised at the priority they put on “commitment to
peacemaking and non-violence”. There were no other doctrine-related
topics they were concerned about, and that concerned me. It also got me
thinking about my own commitment to peace, and the next morning the
verse below came to me.
When “Peace!”, like a mantra, attendeth my lips,
Where death camps and genocide go,
When evil runs rampant and I fight it not,
It's not well in the depths of my soul.
I am normally against making parodies of worship hymns. I'm also
normally against violence. However, I believe in certain circumstances
there is a greater end that must be achieved, and it might mean that
you need to endure the ugliness of war, or write lines of doggerel to
make a point.
I believe MCC does a lot of good godly work. I just think they need
to rethink their priorities. There are doctrines that should be
deal-breakers when hiring Christian workers, and I don't think pacifism
is one of them.
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