A Guest Blogger's Perspective on Pacifism, Violence, and Abuse

 

                                                Photo source: Getty Images 

We invited a guest to contribute to our blog recently and share about their experiences of faith as it transformed over the years through hardship. We are grateful for this contribution and also recognize there may be some bold statements. This blog, in its entirety do not necessarily reflect the views and/or beliefs of LifeChurch Canton in totality. We believe this is still an important and appropriate discussion.

My childhood was a bit different than most, I grew up on a 200-acre farm in the thumb area of Michigan. My father fought in Korea and I never heard him talk about what happened there. In fact, I came to realize that he was anti-gun and anti-alcohol. I grew up in a home surrounded by prime deer property which means that during deer season, there were always hunters on our land, even though it was heavily posted “No Trespassing.”  My childhood consisted of dragging drunk hunters off our land and often taking them home. One would think that my dad was a good Samaritan and a pacifist. However, my childhood was filled with pain and confusion because my dad was also very abusive towards me. How could someone be so grace-filled and helpful to drunk hunters, but so graceless and harmful to his own child?

I also was exposed to faith, church, God, and the Bible through my mother and heard all kinds of things about God. Naturally, I was confused once again to hear about a loving God contained in a book filled with violence and what seemed like abuse. This led me in my twenties to become an atheist.  After my oldest son went to college, I had hit the point where everything was stripped away, so that only God was left. God sent Pastor Bryan into my life 3 years before, and he built a trust between us, so that God could use him as a vessel for my salvation. On October 24th, 2013, I decided for myself to follow Jesus. Pastor Bryan also helped me to see the Bible and God the Father in a new light, this has continued through LifeChurch Canton and seminary.

You may be surprised to find that one of the parts of the Bible that gave me the most hope for my hopelessness and clarity for my confusion was actually the book of Revelation. Most people do not think of Revelation as a pacifist book. There is a lot of bloodshed in Revelation, but it mostly flows from Christ and his followers, not from his enemies. In fact, Revelation represents Christian pacifism more than any other book in the Bible. 

In Revelation, John’s favorite image of Jesus is a slaughtered Lamb, which he uses twenty-eight times in the book. Jesus is also called the Lion, which is a symbol of brute power and is known as the Jewish image for the Messiah, who is the conquering king. The title “Lion of Judah” is also used for David, who was a mighty warrior king, and was familiar with violence and bloodshed. In chapter 5 when John turns to look, he doesn’t see a lion but a slaughtered Lamb (5:6). This shock of reversal reveals the central mystery of Revelation: God defeats Satan through Jesus’ death, not through violence. 

This reversal is also shown by Jesus, who spoke openly about his coming death and resurrection. This disturbed Peter and he took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. This is when Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Mark 8:31-33). Peter’s response here is understandable, many Jews expected the messiah would be a military leader, a king that would free them from Roman oppression. They would not have anticipated that the messiah would become another victim of the Roman Empire. 

Jesus never instructs his followers to be violent in Revelation. 

Jesus’ followers are not allowed to carry out vengeance against their enemies even though he does. The Word of God, the testimony of Christ (Rev. 6:9; 12:11, 17), are our spiritual weapons that we use to fight the satanic force that empowers our enemies.  We often want to overcome evil with excessive power, force, and more killing, but Revelation puts an end to this impulse. Revelation also shows us the true power of suffering, as Jesus defeated Satan by suffering.  

The thought of killing a person that Jesus died for is in opposition to our mission in the world.  Our call is to be positive and active in society spreading the redeeming love of Christ. Our answer, as Christians, to the violence in the world is simply that we can die. This is the ultimate testimony of our belief in Christ. It is this conviction that has motivated believers to go into unknown areas of the world that they may never return.  In the twentieth century there were more Christian martyrs than the previous nineteen centuries combined. To learn more about this, you should definitely check out a book on Nonviolence by Preston Sprinkle.

It’s not possible for Christians to be defeated, or conquered, because the Lamb, through his death on the cross, has already conquered. Christians cannot lose their crowns or have them taken away. Our enemies can beat us, and even crucify us as they did to our Lord. But they won’t win, the victory is already won.

 Is it possible that the command to love your neighbor at times means the use of force to stop someone who was abusing them? This is a difficult question to which I would say, “yes.” There are times that we must protect the innocent, but hopefully this does not lead to murder. For a human being, killing a person changes them, and this is not what Jesus intends for us.  Focusing on the church where does our loyalty lie? Ultimately, I think that the civil state should have the responsibility of dealing with violence with force, and this should be kept separate from the church. It is not the role of the church to physically fight injustice but to pray for God’s justice. 

Additionally, looking to Martin Luther King, Jr., he believed in active pacifism shown in his five points: 

1. It takes more courage to stand for love than to strike back with force. 

2. This resistance does not seek to defeat the opponent, but to gain understanding, respect, and friendship.

3. The attack is directed at the forces of evil, not at the people.

4. Accept suffering without retaliation, without striking back.

5. This resistance protects us from violating our Christian spirit. 

For more on this, check out this article.

Reflecting back on my childhood, the duality of my father being both a pacifist and an abuser, is also seen in the duality of the church and state, confusion and damage is caused when they are mixed. I am only now dealing with this duality within me, and with how that has affected my relationship with God. I have come to understand my responsibility as a Christian and a citizen of the United States, and also the church's responsibility within the entity of the state. 

After being abused for most of my life by my father and then my ex-husband, I have experienced and begun to understand violence and the damage it can do to a person. God intended us to be pacifist to protect us from the damage that violence and killing can do to us. The hope that I found in Revelation has given me hope for the church, and for myself as we all continue to live in this fallen world.