One of the greatest things about living in the United States is that we have different freedoms that our founding fathers helped establish for us today. I am not going to ignore that fact, especially since we are moving further and further toward the Presidential election in November. One of the driving factors for the expected debates between McCain and Obama will most likely be the war in Iraq. When the United States government was talking about going to war I was against it then. It never made sense to me to invade a country thousands of miles away to do what? To rid it of “weapons of mass destruction.” That does not jive to well with me, especially now since they found the materials to make the WMDs., but (to the best of my knowledge) they never actually found WMDs.
I say all that to bring up a thought… I think I have to agree more with pacifists than non-pacifists. To see it within the context of the Christian religion, pacifism fits more with the teachings of Christ than really anything else. He died on a cross, but never rose a protest or put up a fight. When Peter chopped the guy’s ear upon Jesus’ arrest, Christ fixed the situation. He did not applaud Peter, actually, He did not seem to happy about what Peter did.
After hearing that a couple of my friends were pacifists, I wanted to hear what they believed. I did not go into it with my mind set that on other side of the conversations that I was going to be a pacifist. I started asking questions of what people believed. When I first started doing it I did not know what to expect. I really wanted to know what people thought on the subject, I do not often listen to both sides of an argument, even though I should. The more and more I pushed the subject, the more and more I began to examine it within the teachings of Christ. What I am about to say within the context of this post could make you mad at me, but I want you to approach what I have to say with an open mind.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” – Matthew 5:38-48, NASB
If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Romans 12:18-21, NASB
I want to note that those verses from the Bible are a few of where I look to see that “redemptive violence” (which is something that I wrestled with immensely) did not fit into what Christ taught. I want the record to show that I feel that Christ did not teach people to be passive, but He did not teach that people should hit back either.
There are ways out of situations that are not violent, but it seems to me that as Americans we view violence as the only way of escape. But as Christians, we are called to let Jesus be our King, not some middle-aged man near the Atlantic Coast. I’m tired of feeling like the President has all the power in the world, funny thing is… he is just there to make sure that everything does not “go to pot.” If we truly believe that Christ is King of Kings, then we should not view the President as the most important political leader to walk the face of the earth. Christ walked the earth… His Kingdom is not limited to 50 states, but to the whole world and beyond. I feel that if I truly believe that, then when Jesus was asked “who is my neighbor?” that the answer is everybody.
The point I want to make is that I do not view the President as my king, I view him as a person that is suppose to live out what he believes. A lot of the Presidents have been “Christians,” but it pains me to think that if that is what the world views as Christian… then I do not want that Christianity. I want a Christianity that is based upon the Bible. It may not always agree with “the best interest of the country,” but I am personally okay with that. I feel Christ said it best to Pilate upon His death, “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.” – John 18:36, NIV
After a decent amount of thought, I have come to the conclusion that when people see American Christians, that they get a mixed message at times. They hear the message that we should all “love our neighbor as ourself” and “love our enemies.” Yet, soon after September 11, 2001 a lot of Americans wanted Osama Bin Laden dead. What kind of message does that send to non-Christians? I am tired of this… I am tired of being classified an American Christian, I want to be known as a Christian that is currently living in America.
Give Jesus back His Christianity and stop expecting the President to tell you what to think. Christ did not teach easy stuff grant you (He even lost disciples because of His teachings), but He did teach what the Christian walk is suppose to look like. If it had to be boiled down to a few words, I would have to pick the following: grace, forgiveness, and love.
Loving people instead of hating them is almost “un-American” and as I stated before… I am okay with that. I am far from perfect (I feel the only perfect person was Christ), but I am trying. I am trying to “practice what I preach,” but it is not going to be easy. Christ never said following Him would be easy!
One objection that seems to come toward pacifism is: What about Hitler? I like what JR. said during a conversation about pacifism: “In the modern setting, we cannot make an informed decision since he is not alive right now.” (That is of course a paraphrase since my memory does not remember exact quotes, but it has the same overall idea.)
If the above statement makes me a pacifist… so be it.
