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Jumpstarter 10 of 10

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Question 10

Bercot links America’s treatment of Indians to later European land grabs and even Hitler’s “real Indian war” language, concluding the Indians were betrayed by “professing Christians who did not trust in God and his methods”; what “methods” of God do you think he means in this chapter, and what concrete changes would have to happen in our voting, speech, and willingness to suffer loss for us to honestly say we trust those methods?

Another way to ask: Bercot says the Indians were betrayed because professing Christians didn’t trust God’s methods. What do you think God’s “methods” are in this chapter, and what would need to change in our voting, speech, and willingness to lose comfort to show we really trust them?

Direct Answer In this chapter, “God’s methods” appear to mean Jesus’ way of nonresistance, prayer, reconciliation, and refusing conquest; trusting those methods would require Christians to stop excusing land-grab logic and war-crime tactics, even when it costs us politically or materially.

Support from Transcript:

He contrasts “professing Christians” with those who “did not trust in God and his methods,” right after describing theft of land, treaty-breaking, and slaughter.
The clearest picture of “methods” is the Moravian Indians who “embraced all of Jesus’ teachings,” “forever laying down their tomahawks and bows,” and lived “renouncing war.”
They stayed neutral “as Kingdom Christians,” suggesting God’s way is not driven by national survival narratives.
Their final hour featured “prayer” and “seeking reconciliation,” and dying “without hatred…in imitation of Jesus,” implying God’s strength works through Christlike suffering.
Bercot condemns actions later used as models by Europe and even invoked by Hitler (“real Indian war”), suggesting God’s methods reject the “superior race” conquest mindset.

Discussion Follow-ups What would it look like to refuse support (including at the ballot box) for policies that predictably crush weaker peoples? How would our speech change if we stopped calling ethnic cleansing-type outcomes “glorious” or “necessary,” and accepted personal loss instead?

Jumpstarter 10 of 10