The Warrior God

I have always had a problem with the 'Warrior', 'Battle' and 'Army' language used in Christian terminology. Its use is stong, common and possibly increasing. I find it aggressive, self-centered, insensitive and disrespectful of 'non-believers'. I don't doubt that there may be battles to be had against the 'spirits of darkness', but I'm not going to dwell on this particular thought today (as I can't deal with it).

I came across some writing a while ago that differentiated between warriors and hunters and I have been thinking about it in the light of my current blogs and the 'Wild at Heart' men's course I am on at church. Warriors rampage into battle regardless of who they kill, where as a hunter reveres its prey, undertands it and takes only what is needed. According the the 'Wild at Heart' course, Jesus was a warrior. My only purpose supposedly here in life, as it emphasises whilst the men on the DVD play at clay pigeon shooting with their rifles, is to claim the ground for Jesus, fight the battle against Satan and be a warrior for God. After all, the Bible is full of people going to war, and that is what God wanted then, and wants of me now. Jesus was not meek and mild, he was a warrior.

But...

I'd rather be a hunter. Know my enemy, know myself, know my environment, know my strengths and weaknesses, know my enemies strengths and weaknesses, tread silently, stealthily, and pounce when the time was right. Well, sort of.

Sooo....

Out of the box thinking:
If, as I pondered in my last blog, God was Nature then Nature must be a warrior. I've talked about plants (and other animals) colonising land and growing rapidly - are they on a mission to take over the planet? Are we in the way? Are we their enemy? If God is Nature, does that include us humans, or are we separate from the 'others'? Humans are definately set apart in many ways and if there is this division that, possibly the Holy Spirit bridges, then what other questions does it raise? And Nature has many seeming cruel facets within itself and towards humans (viruses, mosquitos, earthquakes.... etc). It isn't all just a pretty 'God made the world, isn't it beautiful' sort of thing.

OK, I am just enjoying a run of thinking a few things that I find interesting. I am not advocating them as facts, true or the basis of a belief system. It is just fun to have few things running through my mind at the moment.

Next thought please....!