Welcome to Part 2 of my blog on 'being a peacemaker' and how I am working through the life that Jesus is calling me to. If you have been tracking with me so far, I am wrestling through one of the most difficult worldviews within Christianity (in my opinion). I have a previous post - Jesus & Nonviolence: Honest Reflections that actually got the ball rolling for me. You can go back and read that post if you wish to see how all of this began to play out in my life.

Continuing on with the theme of nonviolence and peacemaking, I would like to take a deeper dive into this topic. Let me also confess that this is something I am desiring to live my life by. By no means do I have all of this figured out, but I do desire that my life and actions reflect this worldview of Jesus more today than the day before. That's always my prayer and goal. It's hard to expose my heart when typing words and not engaging in personal conversations with many of you. These blog posts serve as a window into my heart and mind - which is always to be loving and being open to discuss any of these topics in further detail. OK - here we go...

When bringing up nonviolence and peacemaking, there seems to be the same sets of questions and points of discussion that always get brought up. Maybe you're thinking of them right now. In particular - the topic of guns and killing in the context of defense and/or war. Here is how I will set this up. To begin, I will say that, when a Christian holds a gun and points it at someone else - from the perspective of Jesus, there are only 2 types of people on this earth. There are Christians (Christ followers) & Non-Christians. One person belongs to the Kingdom of God, the other person belongs to the Kingdom of the world. So in a moment or scenario like this - we need to ask the question - what does the Bible say we should do? 

As far as I can read, if the other person is a Christian, I believe we are told to lay down our weapons and transcend our national identities and walk towards that person to embrace them. This is how we make peace in a world of war and violence. Does this mean the other person will respond in a Christlike way? Not at all. But if we are the one who gets shot - then I would say that we will die in obedience to Jesus, instead of being in rebellion to Jesus. If the other person is a Non-Christian, then it seems clear throughout the Scriptures that they need the Gospel (the good news of Jesus). They need every opportunity possible to say 'yes' to Jesus - even if it costs us our lives. Jesus calls us to 'carry your cross if you wish to be my disciples'. If we fire the gun, we deny that person the opportunity to hear that message. We decide then to give a bullet - not the Gospel. Is this an easy decision? Absolutely not. But then again, Jesus never said following him is easy. And it's not easy for me either.

The early Church, before the time of Constantine practiced this. There actually was a time in world history when The Church did not exact violence upon anyone. Seems hard to imagine, right? So what happened?

It has been the majority view, since Constantine in the 4th century, that the Church would excuse or justify violence in the name of Jesus. This was normal. It has been the minority view to be in opposition to that. But you say - don't both sides claim to follow Jesus of the Bible? Well, yes. What I want to share is why and how my view has been pulled into the minority view (pacifism & peace) vs. the majority view (violence and just-war). Ever since this happened in my life - everything changed.

OK - I want to give each side credit and learn to understand them on a deeper level. How does the majority come to the conclusion surrounding just-war and violence to bring peace between nations and people groups? I honestly do not know. Because there is nowhere in the Bible that defends that position. It is literally nowhere to be found in scripture. I looked. But...isn't there war in the Bible? What about the Old Testament? Yes - you are correct - there is war in the Bible. But it's Holy War. Holy War is initiated by God intended to punish an entire people group or a nation. There is always a God behind it - not human decisions. This grieves me, but I have to honestly wrestle through those stories to try and see Jesus throughout those stories. What about the New Testament? The New Testament opens the curtain further and describes a spiritual battle that's going on. People aren't the enemy at all - we are victims of the enemy (Ephesians 6:12). Our weapons of war are not physical earthly weapons - they are spiritual weapons. So it's Spiritual War in the New Testament and Holy War in the Old Testament.

If you disagree with me, I want to be honest that we can hold different points of view and have a good heart about it. It is quite possible as Christ followers to have a different opinion and still honor each other. We can believe the best about each other. Remember - Iron sharpens iron.

Most of us haven't thought this through. I know I hadn't. I just 'assumed' the majority view to defend my family or my country. It's just assumed, but not worked out. Again, this is not about being 'passive' and running away - it's about engaging an enemy in a non-violent way to bring about reconciliation. To actively 'pacify'. Jesus was a pacifist. His followers were pacifists and the writers of the New Testament were pacifists. For the first 300 years of Church history, leaders were unanimous on this topic! The way of Christ is to 'win hearts' and to serve from 'bottom-up' not 'top-down'.

When Constantine took office, Christians had to stop and re-think everything. Now there was a power in office who made it possible to spread the gospel - but also excused violence as a way of doing it. Think about this - how long would a Roman Emperor last if he was a pacifist? As soon as someone found out he didn't believe in self-defense, I'm guessing he would be assassinated immediately. So certainly, Constantine and the Empire must be exempt from the Sermon on the Mount? Hardly.

I have to admit, it's hard to draw the line. We could spend hours, days or weeks trying to figure out how a Christian 'should' live in a fallen world. What are we supposed to do then? My opinion is that Romans 13 tells us how to live within a reasonable framework. It says to 'pay your taxes'. Jesus teaches us that there is a spiritual enemy. This is where our energy should go. Give to Caesar what it Caesar's and give to God what is God's. God can use the state - even in its unjust ways - to bring about good. But not being aggressive against others, but being aggressive against the dark forces in this world. As Christ followers, we don't follow the kingdom of the world.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:17-21: