“The United States is declaring that we will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and in compliance with their nuclear nonproliferation obligations.” (President Barack Obama)
And the response?
"It's kinda like getting out there on a playground, a bunch of kids, getting ready to fight, and one of the kids saying, "Go ahead, punch me in the face and I'm not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want with me." (prominent politician and celebrity)
OK, I get that. I grew up on that schoolyard, I know that inherent violence of this world and the need to stand up for oneself.
It is, in fact, central to the American mythos, this emphasis on strength, on confidence, on self-reliance. The great American dream is to stand up victoriously to the neighborhood bully, to look him in the eye without backing down, to protect our own best interest without flinching.
It is this aspiration which has kept us safe and free for generations.
I can understand it. I can even honor it. I just can’t reconcile it with the teaching of my faith.
“But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Matthew 5:39
It is not, lest we profess our uncertainty, just another one of those things that Jesus uttered out loud. It is not a redactor’s trick, or an invention of the institutional church grown too far from its apostolic roots. It is the very heart and nature of Christ’s teaching, ministry and mission, and that pretenders to expertise in American Christian values do not understand this is our great sin.
Christians are called to be people of peace. Of passive, even non-resistive peace. Of active, sought-out, reconciling-with-enemies peace. Of reaching out, toward, across, down, beyond, peace.
Christians are named to be followers of a Savior who holds not a sword in his hand but the mark of a nail. Of a Savior who asks us not to “conquer” but to “endure.” Of a Savior who called down not armies of angels from his cross but words of forgiveness.
Christians are called to be people of peace as students and heirs of the man of peace, not as a hobby, not as a possibility that may come after every adversary is destroyed, after all other options are exhausted, but people who love peace, hope for peace, seek peace, live peace.
It is a tribute to our ignorance that we do not see how impossible peace is between two peoples who desire either victory or annihilation, not peace. It is a great evil that many of us (often not too secretly) are pleased to see the advance of their hatred. How amazing it is to see even the miniscule reductions of weapons, to hear conversations of any kind reflecting the possibility of less warfare. It should be celebrated, prayed for, not criticized, not scorned.
Oh, how unattainable to live a Christian life in this world! Oh how great our failure to live worthy of our Savior. Thanks be to the God of grace, who practices what he preaches, and offers us not a violent posture but the embrace of compassion, not condemnation for our helplessness, but a Spirit of peace, an opportunity for hopefulness.
And the response?
"It's kinda like getting out there on a playground, a bunch of kids, getting ready to fight, and one of the kids saying, "Go ahead, punch me in the face and I'm not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want with me." (prominent politician and celebrity)
OK, I get that. I grew up on that schoolyard, I know that inherent violence of this world and the need to stand up for oneself.
It is, in fact, central to the American mythos, this emphasis on strength, on confidence, on self-reliance. The great American dream is to stand up victoriously to the neighborhood bully, to look him in the eye without backing down, to protect our own best interest without flinching.
It is this aspiration which has kept us safe and free for generations.
I can understand it. I can even honor it. I just can’t reconcile it with the teaching of my faith.
“But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Matthew 5:39
It is not, lest we profess our uncertainty, just another one of those things that Jesus uttered out loud. It is not a redactor’s trick, or an invention of the institutional church grown too far from its apostolic roots. It is the very heart and nature of Christ’s teaching, ministry and mission, and that pretenders to expertise in American Christian values do not understand this is our great sin.
Christians are called to be people of peace. Of passive, even non-resistive peace. Of active, sought-out, reconciling-with-enemies peace. Of reaching out, toward, across, down, beyond, peace.
Christians are named to be followers of a Savior who holds not a sword in his hand but the mark of a nail. Of a Savior who asks us not to “conquer” but to “endure.” Of a Savior who called down not armies of angels from his cross but words of forgiveness.
Christians are called to be people of peace as students and heirs of the man of peace, not as a hobby, not as a possibility that may come after every adversary is destroyed, after all other options are exhausted, but people who love peace, hope for peace, seek peace, live peace.
It is a tribute to our ignorance that we do not see how impossible peace is between two peoples who desire either victory or annihilation, not peace. It is a great evil that many of us (often not too secretly) are pleased to see the advance of their hatred. How amazing it is to see even the miniscule reductions of weapons, to hear conversations of any kind reflecting the possibility of less warfare. It should be celebrated, prayed for, not criticized, not scorned.
Oh, how unattainable to live a Christian life in this world! Oh how great our failure to live worthy of our Savior. Thanks be to the God of grace, who practices what he preaches, and offers us not a violent posture but the embrace of compassion, not condemnation for our helplessness, but a Spirit of peace, an opportunity for hopefulness.
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