Darthben’s Weblog

I’ve been thinking and reading lately about violence, war, the Kingdom of God, etc, and the question I’ve been trying to work through is: Should Christians use violence, or does violence fit in the kingdom of God.  Here are some points from scripture that point me away from violence as a tool in the kingdom of God.

-In Matthew 5:38-48, Jesus tells his audeince that instead of following the rule of eye for eye and tooth for tooth, they should instead give up their right for personal justice by turning the other cheek, giving more than is demanded when someone tries to get something from you, and going the extra mile.  These are not ways of being passive, but are rather ways of standing up to injustice in a nonviolent manner.

 Also in the passage, Jesus tells his audience that they are not just to love their friends, but that they are to love their enemies as well, and pray for their enemies-because this is how God treats his enemies.

It seems clear to me that Jesus is teaching a nonviolent enemey love to his followers.  And it seems equaly clear that Jesus does not see this as some impossible ideal that we should just throw aside, because to conclude the sermon that these admontitions are contained in, he tells his audience that if they are wise they will put his teachings into practice.  Clearly Jesus intends for his teachings to be lived out.

 So a question is-How can we love our enemies if we are killing them?

-Several times in scripture we are told to return evil-not with evil-but with love.

-When asked if he was the king of the Jews, Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” Jesus says that the difference between a world kingdom and His kingdom is that in Jesus’ kingdom his followers do not use violence to achieve victory or fight for each other.

-There is a tremendous contrast between the Roman Empire and Jesus ‘ Kingdom.  Many of the words that are used in Jesus kingdom are also used in the Roman empire-but to achieve different ends. 

Like Son of God-The Son of God was more than just Jesus’ title, it was a politcal title as well.  Caesar Augustus was claimed to be the son of god because of his peace achieved through military victories.

Faith-For the romans, faith was what the Roman people put into the Roman Empire-they had faith in the Pax Romana-or the peace of Rome, a peace that was brought through violence and military might.

Ekkesia-Greek for church-was also a word used for a Roman province that gave allegiance and worshiped Caesar.

Gospel or Good News-The Romans used this term to refer to an heir being born or that a battle had been won.

 Also, the procession that was used to inaugurate a new Caesar-Mark uses this same format in his Gospel to tell the story of Jesus cricifixion.  Caesar is being announced as the triumphant Lord-Jesus the suffering servant Lord.

-In Jesus temptation, Jesus overcomes temptation to use power and might to establish his kingdom.

-In the Garden, Jesus resists the temptation to overcome his victories though military might.

-The Epistles point to Jesus death on the cross not only as our means of salvation, but also as an example to be followed.  Peter says in chapter 3 of 1 Peter, 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
 22“He committed no sin,
      and no deceit was found in his mouth.”^[e] 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Here Peter talks about Jesus suffering and death both as the source of our salvation and as an example to be followed.

In Phil 2 Paul tells us that we are to have the same attitude as Christ who “being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 7but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 8And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!”

However, the real issue is bigger than violence-it’s that as Christains we are called to love, to love sacrificially, even our enemies.

We often talk about how as Christians our calling is different from the world, and how we are to live differently than the world-such as the way we live sexually(don’t fool around on your spouse, no sex outside of marriage), the way we handle our money(give 10% to church, be generous, don’t live on more than you make), the way we treat our body (eat helthy, don’t ravage your body with drugs or alcohol abuse).  However, another big way we are to be different is by our love-a kind of love that would love even our enemies, even if they are hurting us (which they did to Jesus) or when they are hurting our friends (which happened to Peter, he tried to defend Jesus but was commanded to drop his weapon).  We want peace and justice, but we are also called to love others so much that we do not forsake them in the process of making peace.

 And the issue is-by  getting involved in war, by taking out enemies in our lives, by supporting something that oppresses or kills other people, by uniting the empire and the church so much that we become a fan of any war that our country champions-by doing these things, are we as the church destroying one of the very things that makes us so different from the way the rest of the world lives. 

Of course some violence seems more permissable, such as cops restraining people, but how much can violence be a part of our lives and still say that we are loving people as Jesus would love-a self sacrificing love.

The state is going to be the state, the issue here is not whether states should go to war, the issue is what should the church do?  Should we be saying that we will not afflict violence on another person?  Why? Because we are part of another kingdom.