The Gospel of Nonviolence!

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

—Jesus

Whenever I address the issue of non-violence on my blog I almost always get the following response: “What would have happened had we not beaten back Hitler and Nazism during World War II?” 

I normally respond jokingly by saying: “Well, we’d all be speaking German I guess.”

Actually I am grateful that the likes of Adolf Hitler and other murderous tyrants throughout history have been beaten down. Insofar as nation States are concerned, such evil must be confronted. Thank God for those who sacrificed their lives by confronting those perilous threats of the last century.

Truth is, war is a given reality in our broken world. Jesus even said so: “You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” Historians tell us that the 20th century was the bloodiest century in recorded history in terms of lives lost due to wars. One can only hope the current century will not follow suit.

But I think the better question for us to ask is this: “What is the relationship between the Church (Christianity) and the State when it comes to national conflicts and wars?”

An even better question might be: “What should be the Christian’s response to violence on such a large scale?” Of course this includes the wars one’s nation fights? 

Are Christians simply to fall in line with the demands of the State and uncritically participate in her wars no matter how “just” they are purported to be? Are Christians simply to ignore the nonviolent teachings of Christ (e.g., Sermon on the Mount) for the sake of supporting the State’s need to field combatants? 

Does not the Church (collectively) have the responsibility to bear witness to the nonviolent response of God to his own Son's death on a Roman cross? Is not the cross a model for our calling to respond to evil nonviolently? 

Are Christians to simply ignore their higher calling to reflect God’s grace and Christ’s suffering love to the world regardless of the cost? Do we just set aside our calling in order to participate in the world’s seemingly endless addiction to violence and war?

Perhaps we might ask: “Can a Christian who lives a nonviolent life remain a good citizen of the nation to which he or she belongs?” Absolutely! But let's not forget that the Christian is first and foremost a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

Now this position does not imply that we Christians all become pacifists, nor does it imply that we Christians, or the Church for that matter, simply stick our heads in the sand and pretend that wars do not exist. It doesn’t even imply that we Christians believe that the Church's mission is to end all wars. Quite frankly this isn't going to happen.

You see, the real issue here falls beyond the pale of wars between nations. The real issue is Evil itself. The Apostle Paul indicated as much when he wrote: 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). 

For Paul the real enemy lies beneath the stark reality of our physical world, including our wars. 

Yes Hitler was beaten down and should have been. But the evil that precipitated his rise to power continues to be a major player in world affairs (think ISIS). Let us be clear about this: War does not defeat evil! 

It may curb it for a short while, but only God has the power to ultimately defeat Evil.

Now this is where I believe the Church has missed a golden opportunity to bear witness to the nonviolent love of God to the world. This is where I believe the Church has a God-given responsibility to be the conscience of the State; to be the voice of nonviolence in a violent world.

In the words of the late André Trocmé: “God expects only one thing of [the Church]: that it walks in obedience to the Gospel, refusing violence in whatever form because of that obedience, without concerning itself with the consequences, good or bad, that such refusal may involve.”

There are always going to be wars and rumors of wars. The Church was not meant to put an end to wars this side of Christ’s second coming. Our calling, our election as it were, is to be the voice of conscience to our nation and to the world. Moreover we are to bear witness that God remains supreme Lord even over Washington, Moscow, Tehran, or Bagdad. 

We are to bear witness that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only narrative worthy of our full allegiance. 

One final question we just might ask ourselves: 

“Is it possible for the Church in America to be reenergized and revived by rediscovering its calling to bear witness to the nonviolence of Christ regardless of the costs?" 

Certainly this is a topic worthy of our prayerful consideration.