491 Clothman On War Part 4
I was riding my bicycle yesterday when a dude in the passenger seat of a pick-up truck reached out and slapped my back like a hockey puck. He hit me so hard I nearly crashed. Before I knew it, my middle finger and some colorful adjectives flew in his direction.
For the next several miles I wrestled with how out-of-place and difficult the non-violent teachings of Jesus are in this violent world. Jesus said I’m supposed to love that dude and bless him, but all I wanted to do was make his nose throb like my back.
Part of me doesn’t like Jesus being a pacifist – albeit a militant pacifist. Jesus’ model goes against most everything I’ve thought and believed. Gnarly questions arise that don’t have easy answers. Would we be the United States had we not taken up arms against England? What would the world look like had we not entered WWII?
Doesn’t loving my neighbor require me to defend my neighbor? If I was drafted, wouldn’t Paul’s admonition that I obey government authorities require me to comply? Doesn’t nature teach us that self-defense as natural as the will to survive?
Still, Jesus’ words won’t stop ringing in my ears. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Matthew 5:7, 9, 39-41).
I get it when dealing with the numskull who slapped my back. I know its best to forgive him and move on. But what if someone’s attacking my wife or child? What of Germany’s blitzkrieg through Europe? What of terrorists flying planes into skyscrapers? Is Jesus message too suburban and quaint to deal with these bloody realities?
But Jesus delivered his message to an oppressed people for whom freedom and peace were impossible dreams. In fact, when several in his audience ignored him and took up arms against Rome, the end result was nearly a million Jews being slaughtered in Jerusalem in 70AD.
Jesus’ message isn’t quaint or suburban, it is the only option that will truly stop the cycle of violence. Consider the impact of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Oscar Romero or Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.”
For three hundred years most of Jesus’ followers chose to suffer violence rather than inflict it. They radically impacted the world for good. However, Christians gradually transitioned from being the ones threatened by the sword to the ones wielding the sword – forcing conversions, executing heretics, etc. – plagiarizing Jesus words to justify their morbid actions. They radically impacted the world for evil. Sadly, this later mindset subtly continues today.
As my bicycle incident demonstrates, I’m still trying to incorporate Jesus’ non-violence message into my core values and lifestyle. I obviously have a ways to go, but the dove in me is slowly devouring the hawk. How I pray for the day when all humanity will experience the same.
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