"What I've Done" --Song i referenced 9/23

Was Jesus a pacifist?

(Just a quick post here on something I've been kicking around with a friend of mine.)

The most violent thing we have Jesus doing ON EARTH that I can think of is driving the corrupt merchants out of the temple. And in that act, he certainly was violent to an extent. On the other hand, nothing he did would have caused permanent physical damage...so it would be a long shot to try to use that to justify war or something.

I had a professor at Trevecca once say, "I'm pretty sure Jesus was a pacifist and that I should be too, but I'm not brave enough...at least not yet." (Henry Spaulding)

I resonate with that. On the one hand, I've let someone spit in my face before and others call me names without retaliating with violence...but try to hurt my kids or wife and I'll likely beat the crap out of you.

And yet, God says via the bible that vengeance is his--not ours to take. And He promises protection to those who love him. I'm not sure it's always literal, but what if it is? What if I'm afraid to be a pacifist because of things like the fear that if someone would break into my house and hurt my family I'd ideologically be obligated to not harm/kill them...when all along God may be saying, "Uh, pray about it, and I'll keep that from happening!"

I believe it was G.K. Chesterton who said that the tragedy in life was not that Christianity had been tried and found to be wanting, but that it had been left untried.

On a related note, my grandfather who still has shrapnel in his body and a missing finger from fighting in WWII (after being the kind of tough leader they make movies of) would you think be like, "Yeah, we whupped up in WWII and saved the day, just like we should today!" But he's exactly the opposite....totally against war whatsoever if it can in any possible way prevented.

Stanley Hauerwas says that Romans 13 was used by the Allies AND the Nazis (many of whom had Christian upbringings, remember, and considered themselves Christian) to kill each other; but had they used Romans 12 as their ideology they would have spent the years trying to overcome each other by doing good!

Anyway...thought I'd throw this on here and see if it brought out any wisdom from you all. Any pacifists out there who can explain how they deal with it?

Nathan

"On a Mission from God"--Good, or terrorizing?

On Sunday Sept. 2 I preached a sermon entitled "On a Mission From God," in which I declared that each person is created for the purpose of being a family member of God, and that since many people rebel against God our mission as Christians is (at least in part) to help those people to come back into God's family. This is especially seen when Jesus is ascending into heaven (Matthew 28), leaving us his disciples behind to be sent by the Holy Spirit to help people, and he says "Go make disciples of all nations..."! That makes total sense--go make little mini-Jesuses, because we're all supposed to be one big happy family with God as our heavenly Father.

So...every person is 'on a mission from God.'

But...who these days uses that language? Uhhh.....yeah.....guys who fly planes into buildings 'for Allah', or guys who car bomb other "Christians" in Ireland.....those kind of guys, right? Who wants to use THEIR language!?!?!

And that's where the Bible comes in. Right off the bat, in the first couple chapters in Genesis God has revealed to us that when He made humans he COMMANDED them to "Be fruitful and multiply." He commanded other things too...and continues to throughout the Bible...but that's the first one. Why would God say that? Presumably because he wants lots of people relating to him, relating to each other, kind of like one big incredible family. (My wife's pregnant with child #3, so we're doing our part!)

Now, in that immediate context it meant procreate...but since there was soon thereafter rebellion against God, and after that and until now there has always been a bent toward rebellion and against God in people, it now takes some conscious effort to be in God's family. A choice...a continual 'paying attention to and obeying' God. SO, THAT'S A PART OF OUR MISSION NOW AS WELL! Now we try to expand God's family by helping others to come in and choose to join in His family.

So, we have the command in Genesis 1:27ff to "be fruitful and multiply," initially meaning physically and spiritually both, then we have the command in Matthew 28 to "go and make disciples," meaning spiritually--which means we have a standard from which to measure behavior:

--Terrorist says God said to go fly a plane into a building and kill a bunch of people who do not directly threaten the terrorist. Did God really say that? Well, is that consistent with the revelation He gave us that he wants us to help others come into his family? NO. So, God did not really say that. No way. And it's not just 'my opinion versus their opinion,' that's 'my opinion which comes directly from a source outside of me that's thousands of years old and has been tested throughout those years to be true!'

Isn't that helpful? I think so. Now if someone says, "God told me to do....", you can measure that against the mission from God that we're all on: Is it consistent with God's desire that we increase his family? Does it help or hinder that? By answering those questions, we can at least see if it's likely or unlikely that God said what they said He did...which will help us all, because God's been misquoted quite a bit don't you think? (Have any good stories to share regarding that? Share away in the comments!)

Thanks,

Nathan