Transcript
Lecrae (0:00)
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Host/Commentator (1:16)
so let me be honest with y'. All. When I heard about the conflict in Iran, I didn't know what the heck was going on. And I don't think most people do. They think he might be dead. There's a bunch of idios. Israel is released clearly. AI the Bible says that this attack will come on Israel from the north and the south, and then that will be the final war to end all wars that will usher in the end of time.
Expert/Guest (possibly a theologian or analyst) (1:40)
When these things line up, the end of the world will happen. And if it's not happening fast enough, then it's on me to make it happen. At the surface, that's evil.
Lecrae (1:50)
US Military commanders have reportedly been invoking extremist Christian rhetoric about biblical end times, selling the conflicts as a holy war.
Host/Commentator (1:59)
It's the epitome of the Crusades. And how did that fare? Scroll through social media right now and you're gonna find Christians quoting script to support the war. You're gonna find Christians quoting scripture to oppose the war. But here's where it gets a little tricky for me. This is the deep end with Lecrae. All right, so let me be honest with y' all When I heard about the conflict in Iran, I didn't know what the heck was going on. And I don't think most people do. Like, depending on who you listen to, you're probably getting completely different stories. There's sides saying this war is, is very necessary, it's about stopping a real threat. And there's another side that's saying this is reckless and it did not have to happen. And if you're just a regular person trying to make sense of it all, you're probably like, wait, what? What is actually true? I think there's a lot that's being hidden from us. Now. Here's what we do know. The whole thing escalated at the end of February. The US and Israel launched major strikes inside Iran. Iran responded with missiles and drones across the region. And, and now it's not just Iran and Israel and the us. It's affecting the entire Middle East. I mean, we're talking oil, shipping, global markets, all of it. Now, at one point in time, Iran basically held on to the world's most important oil route in the world. It's almost impassable. So this, this isn't just a war or something happening over there. This hits gas prices, this hits economy, this hits global stability. I mean, it hits everything. But here's where it gets a little tricky for me. The why behind all of this? Depends on who you ask. Because some people are saying Iran was becoming too dangerous, it's a nuclear threat, there's military expansion, and all this has to be stopped. And other people are saying this is an immediate threat. This could create something way bigger than we're trying to prevent. And let me tell you guys something, if I'm honest, I don't know how the average person is supposed to soar through all that. And this is where I start asking deeper questions. Because anytime something is this big, this fast, this costly, there's usually more layers than what we're hearing on the surface. I mean, what really pushed this tension in a full on war? Were there other options that were more diplomatic that didn't even get explored? Who benefits from this escalating and who actually pays the price? There's a lot that the media's not telling us. There's a lot that we don't know. And I've had to do some digging, I've had to ask questions, I've had to do some research to get perspectives from all over the place. Now let me give you a couple facts. In just the first week, the US spent $11 billion on this war. And that's not a small decision. That's a massive one. And while this is all happening at a global level, there's real people on the ground. Families, kids, communities. Literally over a thousand people have already died across Iran, Israel, and all the neighboring regions. So this isn't just strategy. This is human lives. I'm not coming to you as some sort of expert on geopolitics. I'm coming to somebody who's trying to be thoughtful, trying to be honest, and not just swept up in whatever narrative is the loudest. Because as believers, as people trying to walk with wisdom, we can't just react. We gotta wrestle. So what I want to do in this episode is not tell you what to think, but walk you through the different ways that Christians are actually approaching this war. The tensions between justice, peace and power, and how we can think about this without losing our souls in the process. Whenever we start talking about war, especially something like Iran, people immediately split into different sides. Some people are like, we gotta protect ourselves. If that means war, so be it. And others are like, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. As Christians, we should never support violence, ever. And then there's a whole group of people in the middle who are just confused, like me. We're like, we love Jesus and we live in America, but I don't know what the heck I'm supposed to think about this. So instead of telling you what to think, I want to give you some framework so you can actually understand why you may feel the way you feel and then take that and submit it to Jesus. So here's the issue. Most Christians don't actually have a theology of war, right? We got reactions, we got political opinions, we got cultural instincts, but we have not slowed ourselves down to ask, what does it actually mean to follow Jesus in a world full of violence? Because, I mean, let's be honest, you can scroll through social media right now, and you're gonna find Christians quoting scripture to support the war. You're gonna find Christians quoting scripture to oppose the war. And everybody is convinced that God sees things the way they do. I think that should bother us because God is not a mascot for our opinions, so we should be submitting our thoughts to him. Historically, Christians have always wrestled with this. And what I found is that there are four lenses that people generally see this through. Okay, I'm going to interrupt you for a second because I need to put you on to something now. If you notice how we know the story of Jesus, we don't always feel it. You know what I mean? Experience it like you heard it so many times that it starts to lose some weight. Well, I came across something that kind of pulled me back in a fresh way, is called the Christ. And this isn't your typical Bible podcast. The Christ podcast is a cinematic four part audio drama that tells the story of Jesus from his birth to his resurrection with like real storytelling, real emotion and film level sound design. The cast is crazy. Tom Pelfrey plays Jesus. David Oyewolo plays Pontius Pilate. Then you got Paul Walter Houser and Courtney Hope up in that mix too. Narrated by John Rhys Davies. And if you've seen Lord of the Rings or Indiana Jones, you know that voice. And it's hosted by Patricia Heaton. So the whole story unfolds across like four episodes during Holy Week leading up to Easter. And go ahead and open your podcast app. All right, I want you to search the Christ and then follow it now, because when it drops, you will be ready. And it's a powerful way to experience the greatest story ever told in a way that might actually hit you different this time. Now I have to take a pause because the irony is I would not have been able to navigate this episode if I had not gotten a good night's sleep before this. And in this episode you can obviously tell the difference. The reason why I'm sleeping good in this particular situation is because I changed my mattress. The mattress company that I went with was Brooklyn Bedding Sleep is not a one size fits all thing. 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He says, love your Enemies. And then there's a moment where Peter's pulling out a sword to defend Jesus, and Jesus tells him, hey, man, put your sword back. Because those who live by the sword die by the sword. So think about that. Like, Jesus is being unjustly arrested. He still refuses violence. And when he's on the cross, he doesn't call down angels. He absorbs all that violence, right? So the idea there is that if Jesus laid his life down, how can we take someone else's? I respect it. I do. I respect it because it takes this view, takes Jesus word seriously. But here's my tension. What do you do when the evil is real? I mean, what do you do when innocent people are literally being harmed? How do you defend them? And that's the tension. The second perspective people have is a just war perspective. Like, this war is justified, right? This is where I feel like most Christians land, even if they don't even know the name. Because the idea is this, like, war is tragic, but it's sometimes necessary. And you see hints of this in Scripture, too. Like in Romans 13, it talks about governing authorities bearing the sword to restrain evil. Or you think about the soldiers who came to John the Baptist. And John doesn't tell them to quit being soldiers, right? He tells them to act justly. And even Jesus, when he encounters that Roman centurion, he doesn't rebuke him for being in the military. He's not like, hey, bro, by the way, drop out the military. It's ungodly. What he does is he actually praises his faith. So the idea becomes, if force is used, it's got to be restrained, it's got to be just, and it's got to be necessary. But here's the problem for me with that. Every nation thinks their war is justified. Like, there's nobody thinking we're the bad guys. We probably shouldn't do this, but we are, right? So now it takes deep discernment and not blind trust to think through. Is this actually justified? And then third, this is real popular right now. The third perspective is Christian nationalism. And this is where faith and country get blended together. It's where people start thinking, if we're doing it, it must be right because God is on our side. But Scripture actually gives us a lot of warnings about this, right? I want you to think about Jonah, right? You familiar with Jonah? He gets on the boat and goes to Nineveh. So God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh, which is an enemy nation, and he tells Jonah to call them to repentance. And because Jonah is a nationalist, he doesn't want to go. And the reason why is because he. He doesn't want his enemy nation to be shown the mercy of God. He would rather see them judged than redeemed. Because Israel's the good guys, right? And every other nation is the bad guys. I mean, that's the perspective that Jonah has. And he doesn't want to see the bad guys actually get redeemed. He wants to see him judged. This is nationalism, and that's drawing the hard line between the US and the them and forgetting that God cares about both. And God confronts Jonah, he basically says, hey, you care about your comfort, but I care about an entire city full of people. I want you to think about that. Like, think about when Israel demanded a king in First Samuel. They wanted to be like all the other nations. They wanted power, they wanted identity, they wanted security. And God warned them, all right, this is going to lead to oppression. But what did they do? They still chose it. So when we stop questioning our nation and we just start assuming it's righteous, now we're stepping into dangerous territory because America is not the kingdom of God, right? The kingdom of God is not a nation state. Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. So if our loyalty to a country becomes unquestioned, then we're not thinking like disciples. We're not thinking like followers of God. And fourth and last is the perspective of peacemaking. Now, this is a completely different posture because the goal is not just trying to avoid war or justify war. It's actively pursuing peace. Jesus in Matthew 5 says, Blessed are the peacemakers, not the peacekeepers. The peacemakers. Think about that. Those who are trying to. To make peace. And then you got Jesus in Samaria, right? The Jews and the Samaritans were in a war. They had this deep hostility. But then Jesus crosses that line and he goes and engages the woman at the well. And then you got Paul, who talks about a ministry of reconciliation, that. That God is making peace through Christ and calling us to carry that message. I mean, you got Abraham, who allows lot to choose the land first in order to avoid conflict. So this posture that says we're gonna fight for peace before we ever pick up a fight, that's a posture of peacemaking. And it's uncomfortable because it doesn't give you easy answers. But what it does do is it forces you to wrestle. So bring all this into something real, like this current conflict with Iran. And instead of asking, should we go to war or shouldn't we? I think a Better question to ask is, what lens am I using right now? How am I seeing this? Because if you're a pacifist, you're saying no violence at all. It's wrong. If you're thinking in a justifiable, just war terms, you're asking, is this truly necessary, or are we just getting pulled into something we don't need to be getting pulled into? If you're leaning nationalistic, probably don't even have any questions. And if you're thinking as a peacemaker, you're asking, is there another way before we escalate this? But here's what we cannot forget. The Iranian people are made in the image of God. They are mothers, they are fathers, they are children, just like you. And if our perspective on God in the Bible, if our theology allows us to ignore that, something's off. All right, so what I will tell you is this. I want to look at some of the responses and the things that are being said out there. We can kind of filter what perspective these people may have and what we can take away from from their perspectives. Now, I'm be clear again, I am not a geopolitical expert, but I have realized in my time of learning and researching that there is a lot that we're not being told. There's a lot being said about this war, but there are things they just aren't telling you. Let's take a look at some stuff. What did you ask me, Prime Minister? People are saying online that you're actually dead. I'm crazy about coffee. You know what? I'm crazy about my people, the way they're behaving. Fantastic. Do you want to count the number of fingers? Can you show us? You were very nice. Cheers. The Prime Minister's message to people who are going out to get some air. Go out to get some air, but stay near a protected space. And your resilience is amazing. It gives strength to me, to the government, to the idf, to the Mossad. We are doing things. I can't share at the moment, but we are doing things striking Iran very hard, even today, and in Lebanon as well. Continuing. I'm telling all of you, you keep going too. Keep following the instructions of the home front command. Always follow the home front command's instructions and also those of the mayors. Always stay near a protected space. We will ease things as much as possible. And thank you for the coffee. So Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, is dead. Maybe depending on who you believe. So here's the situation. Earlier this month, Netanyahu reportedly had A high level security meeting with his defense minister, the IDF chief of staff and the head of the Mossad. And the meeting location was bombed. So reports from Iran claim that Netanyahu was killed. And since then, Netanyahu's reportedly missed eight consecutive cabinet security meetings. He had never missed one of those meetings ever before. So all these rumors started picking up steam and the official account, the X account for Netanyahu, started releasing videos that were showing him to be alive. So the result is been people scrutinizing and screenshotting these videos, claiming that they are AI videos. And the responses are just tons of screenshots that supposedly prove that the videos are AI generated. And the truth after watching the videos is I have no idea what to believe, right? Even Grok, you know, the AI built in the X can't even tell. Like sometimes Grok is saying the video's AI, other times Grok is saying that it's real. What I do know about all this is that we are definitely in an era of uncertainty and deception and we just genuinely cannot tell what is real and what is fake online. So my question is, are we spiritually equipped to navigate a world where we genuinely cannot tell what's real? Because if we can't verify what's real online, and we increasingly can't, you know what I mean, what do we do to anchor ourselves? And I love what Hebrews 6:19 calls hope, an anchor for the soul, right? If hope is an anchor for the soul, it's not the right news source, it's not the right political team winning, it's Christ, right? You can engage these questions with curiosity now if you believe in hope instead of anxiety. So I don't know if that video is real and I'm not going to fall apart. My citizenship is not determined by what happens in Tel Aviv, Israel. My identity is not threatened by what happens in Tehran. I am hidden in Christ. I'm hidden with Christ, in God. And listen, that's, that's not a video that can be faked. You know what I mean? My Life in Jesus, you can't fake that, right? And so that's how I look at the whole thing. So a lot of us, when we go to war, we tend to start pulling out our end times theology, right? We get out our left behind books, we start quoting that there will be wars and rumors of wars, which, you know, I can understand and I've been that person. But I also wanna submit a different perspective as well. Just because war is happening and we're involved does not signal like the end times, because there's wars that have happened all over the place, conflicts that have happened all over the place. But I don't, we don't start preaching, oh, God is coming back when, like, I don't know, North Korea and South Korea have a conflict or when, you know, Ukraine and Russia. I didn't hear a lot of Americans saying, this is the end of the world. It's generally when your life is in peril or your country's in the midst of it, you think it's the end. And I just would challenge that. I would challenge us to say, hey, this is a global thing, a global perspective, not just a national perspective. And this isn't about whether or not you are a Trump supporter or you're not a Trump supporter. I just would say I hope that we treat all angles and all sides with the same amount of perspective and respect. So let's look at some perspectives that are currently out here right now. The Secretary of War is apparently connected to Christian nationalism, allegedly, I guess. A new church has quietly opened here in Washington, just three blocks from the nation's capital. The Defense Secretary, Pete Hexseth, attended the service. The church is part of the communion of reformed evangelical churches, and its aim is global Christian domination under a strict interpretation of the Bible. I'd like to see the town be a Christian town. I'd like to see the state be a Christian state. I'd like to see the nation be a Christian nation. I'd like to see the world be a Christian world.