488 Clothman On War Part 1
I used to think that radical Christians passed out bubble-gum cigars when they had a baby, celebrated New Years with sparkling cider, printed Bible verses on their checks and pointed to heaven after scoring a touchdown. They’d tithe 10% even if they couldn’t pay their bills and they’d go door-to-door telling people how to avoid hell even though going door-to-door is hell.
Now I’m realizing that I had little idea what radical Christianity was and that most of the things I once thought were radical were merely superficial works that had little to do with Jesus core values.
Take war, for example. War is that unpleasant stew that seems to always be boiling on the front-burner of the global landscape. The conflict in Iraq has forced all Americans to re-evaluate our view of war. Armed conflict is costly. Human lives are lost. Enormous financial resources are depleted. Relationships and trust are severely tested on all levels. Political careers rise and fall.
What would Jesus say about war? Would he be a zealot?
Zealots are intoxicated with the cocktail of religion mixed with nationalism and militarism. They are convinced that God is on their side and that he has fully endorsed their “holy war.”
Most picture of a Quran-toting Islamic extremist when hearing the term zealot, and for good reason. However, what about the Bible-packing Christian who proudly sports an American flag on his lapel? Such Christians are convinced that God is on their side and fully indorses their opposition of those who follow the Quran. Both are zealots.
If you cringe at the notion of being lumped together with Islamic extremists you’re probably what I call a realist. Realists approach war like cats do a body of water – only as a last resort. They believe there are times when military power must be used so long as it is restrained and stops once justice has been met.
Realists appeal to the use of force in the Old Testament and Jesus driving people out of the temple as examples of appropriate uses of violence. They also sight John the Baptist’s possible endorsement of the military. In Luke 3:14 some dudes (probably Jewish) who were a part of the occupying Roman army asked him what they should do. John could have said, “Leave your post. Stop being part of the military.” Instead he simply said, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.”
Was Jesus a zealot? Most Christians don’t think so – neither do I. Was Jesus a realist? Most Christians think so – I used to.
What if Jesus was more radical than either the zealots or the realists? What if - I can’t believe I’m about to say this – what if Jesus was a pacifist? And if Jesus was a pacifist, then shouldn’t his followers be pacifists? That’s a lot more radical than putting a fish symbol on your bumper!
I can already hear zealots and realists asking, “Who then will stand against the forces of evil?” Yet who confronted evil more than Jesus? We must have a different understanding of pacifism.
I just opened up a huge can of worms that I’ll need to explore further next week.
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