Jumpstarter 10 of 10

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Question 10

Dean Taylor connects Crusader/Nazi-style zeal to his own basic training cadence (“Blood makes the grass grow… Kill with cold blue steel”) and admits he believed “God was with us”; what specific heart-motives did he identify as “lurking deep down,” and what concrete practices of repentance and re-formation would help a Christian replace that instinct with allegiance to Jesus—especially in light of his closing question about Old Testament wars versus Jesus’ teaching?

Another way to ask: What sinful desires did Dean Taylor say were hiding deep in him when he thought “God was with us” in war-like zeal? What practical steps of repentance and reshaping could help replace that with loyalty to Jesus, especially when thinking about Old Testament wars versus Jesus’ teaching?

Direct Answer Dean Taylor identifies “root motives and prejudices” in his own heart—pride, egocentrism, and a sense that “we were the civilized and right ones”—that made killing feel rational and spiritually approved. He points toward repentance, deeper questioning, and increasingly accepting Jesus’ words as the path of re-formation, even as he wrestles with the Old Testament war paradox.

Support from Transcript:

He names the inner issue: “these displays of pride and egocentrism… same root motives and prejudices… lurking deep down in my own heart.”
He recalls enjoying zeal without sober thought, then realizing it was “very real… real bullets that killed real people.”
He confesses moral rationalization: “I somehow felt completely rational about it all… we were the civilized and right ones.”
He adds spiritual presumption: “I felt… God was with us and blessing us… convinced that my cause was just.”
His response: “Later, I felt convicted that I needed to repent of this root of evil in my heart.”
He describes re-formation steps: “The more I read, the more I asked questions… I was beginning to accept the words of Jesus more and more.”
He ends with unresolved tension he wants to face honestly: Old Testament wars vs. “Jesus clearly forbidding war.”

Discussion Follow-ups What would “repentance” look like beyond regret—how we speak, what stories we celebrate, what we call ‘just’? How can sustained attention to Jesus’ words reshape how we handle the OT war passages without ignoring either?

Jumpstarter 10 of 10