Jesus Christ Forbids War
Christianity armed is Christianity falsified.
The gospel that God gives to men and women through Jesus Christ is a message of peace, anda gift of the power to live in peace. If we accept this gift, we are not shamed, forced, or reasoned into laying down weapons and war. Rather, we are transformed into new creatures. And warfare is alien to this peaceable new creature. The new creature may make war on its own unruly habits, but does not willingly injure another soul.
This creature grows ever more like Jesus Christ, who lived and preached a way of life that often challenged people, but never harmed them. Indeed, as a “new creature in Christ,” we now find ourselves becoming a member of Christ’s body, just as an arm, a leg or an eye is a member of your body or mine. This is no mere poetic fancy; membership in Christ can be experienced as truly today as in the days when the Apostle Paul preached it. And what does it mean to become a member of Christ?
Jesus taught His followers not to fight back against evil, but to love their enemies. The Biblical records tell us that when two disciples urged revenge on villages that had refused them hospitality, Jesus rebuked them, saying that He had come “to save men’s lives, not to destroy them.” At the scene of His arrest in the Garden, when one of His defenders cut off an attacker’s ear, Jesus disarmed the defender and healed the ear. Questioned by the Roman governor on His alleged claim to kingship, He disowned armed defense of any such claim because His “kingdom was not of this world.” Finally, when foes had crucified Him, He prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” His followers maintained the unwavering peaceableness of His witness for over two centuries, again and again choosing martyrdom over a recourse to arms.
Because Jesus accepted torture and death rather than protect Himself by force, it should come as no surprise that His disciples taught, not arts of self-defense, but the acceptance of all suffering as experience knowingly permitted by a trustworthy God who will one day “wipe away all tears from our eyes.” And so the living Christ teaches us today – to accept suffering when it can’t be avoided, but without seeking to inflict injury in return. “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves,” He instructs: “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
To become a member of this Person is to lose the knack of hardening one’s heart on which the power to wage war depends. Consistently, Jesus taught not new rules for outward conduct but new depths of compassion. This compassion is not to be won without struggle, but the struggle we are now called to is an inward one, a work of “casting down imaginations.” For this, spiritual weapons are needed, and not the “carnal” ones by which blood is shed. “Be perfect,” He tells us, “like your Heavenly Father:” meaning that we are to be bountiful to the just and unjust alike, as God is with sunlight and rain.
War and fighting, taught the Apostle James, come from uncontrolled desires, and the determination to snatch by force what God may not be granting because it is not in our best interests to have it. We are admonished to show respect and obedience to sword-bearing civil authorities, but also to take no part in the “futile works of darkness.” If they ask of us what we cannot give, we must choose obedience to God over obedience to men and women. How then to respond to the world’s many invitations to support warfare? As the Living God instructs us through our conscience. All this is not to pass judgment on fellow believers that listen for the voice of Christ, but feel they have not been told to forsake all things that make for war. To them we say, in all love and respect: just keep listening.
Today a great lie goes masquerading in Christ’s robes. It appears wherever apologists for war, or lethal injection, or lying, or ravaging the earth, or profiteering off human weakness, seek to persuade us that these evils are O.K. for Christians to take part in. How easily they fool us! We’re all too eager to imagine God smiling on all the old, familiar ways that the world does things: think how our ancestors bought into slavery, genocide, the whipping of children and the subjugation of women! Or we fancy God blessing the new ways that the experts say are nownecessary: If nuclear weapons, disinformation, torture of detainees, and use of the products of unfree labor are necessary in this modern world, how could Christ fault Christians for participating in a necessary system?
This makes it terribly important for followers of Christ to stand against falsifications of Christ’s gospel message of love toward all – a message that can’t be maintained by anyone armed to kill. Neither is it credible to many a non-Christian who, surveying Christian history, looks on its record of slaughter – crusade, inquisition, witch-hunt, massacre, pogrom. How did we Christians become such hypocrites?
Christ instructed his followers to be faithful “even unto death.” The apostle Paul reinforced Jesus’ peaceable gospel by repudiating “carnal warfare” and “carnal weapons” in almost all his writings. And Christians of the first two centuries, faithful unto death, routinely accepted execution rather than serve in the Roman army. It was soon well known that Christians would die rather than bear arms. But by the end of the third century all that was gone. What happened? Had Christians given in to fear? Had the most stalwart pacifists among them been killed off during the many persecutions? Did successful evangelism fill the Church with young new converts who didn’t “get” the peace testimony before the military recruiters came for them? Did the example of one Christian youth in uniform make it easier for the next one to accept conscription, starting a chain reaction?
With the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine in 312 it became acceptable to dominate by the sword “in Christ’s name,” and by the time of Aquinas’s Summa Theologica in the Thirteenth Century, the “just war” theory had become standard Christian doctrine. Christians who sought to reclaim their original nonviolent tradition over the centuries were often silenced or killed, though ultimately the Anabaptists, Quakers and others in the modern era, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, recovered it, stood by it, and survived. Today, in most democracies, a Christian pacifist is rarely challenged to be “faithful even unto death.” But Christ has not ceased to ask that of us. We are still bidden to trust in His Providence rather than put our faith in the protection of the gun.
The peace testimony of such Christians is rarely preached on street corners or from the TV screen, because it can’t be promoted like a political program, with appeals to self-interest or humane ideals. For it can’t be separated from the gospel faith in which it is rooted, which converts us into a “new creature” capable of both understanding it and living it. The new creature is graced with an infectious inner peace that endures, if God wills, as well under oppression or martyrdom as under outward liberty. But the old creature can neither understand nor live this: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
This “preaching,” or message, of the cross is the only alternative to the way of the world, in which mutual fear, anger and ignorance will forever provide grounds for the pre-emptive attack that starts a war. Only the way of the cross, by which men and women renounce the right to kill in self-protection, removes these grounds. This can only seem foolishness to a world for whom death is the greatest evil, and self-preservation the highest law. “We are fools for Christ’s sake.” (Where is self-interest here? And what have “humane ideals” to do with such radical obedience?)
And what is this message of the cross? Simply this: the One who made you wants you to come home to your God. God means you to enjoy the peace, knowledge, and joy of the Divine Fullness, beyond time and change. God dwells in your heart, sees through your eyes, and knows your every thought – yes, including all the ones you wish no one knew. But there is not a foolish, or shameful, or evil thing you have done, or wished to do, or had others do for you, that God is not willing to forgive. God forgives it so that it may no longer keep you from perfect enjoyment of your heavenly inheritance. But to receive this forgiveness, you must turn to God and ask to be freed from “bondage to sin” – a technical term, often misunderstood as a matter of outward offenses, for an inward addiction to whatever draws us away from God’s light and love.
For this reason, people that have experienced this “repentance to salvation” have described it as being “born again” or being given “a new heart.” This process does not magically leave us immune to temptation, of course, or incapable of error or further growth. We must still “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” But from now on, whenever we find ourselves lacking in the courage, or wisdom, or faith to do what God asks of us, we learn that God will give it to us merely for the asking. This means that we are free to live without our old defenses, “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” For no one harms us except by “power given from above,” so that we may say with the Psalmist, “I will not fear what flesh can do to me.” This same creation, once seen as a battlefield of mutually opposing elements, a chaos of chance without Providence, now appears to us as one organism in which “all things work together for good to them that love God.”
This is the essence of the “good news” of salvation in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to free us from slavery to sin, and who now lives, teaches, and reigns as king in the hearts of those here on earth who accept Him – under whatever name a particular heart may know its Savior by. This new life in Christ is a good life, the best of lives; but it requires us to die to the old self we knew, and so frightens many not ready for it. This is why so many of us choose an inauthentic Shadow Christianity, which allows us to hope for a Christian’s heavenly reward but keep one foot in a corrupt world largely run by the ignorant and self-serving, ruled by fear, foul with injustice, full of the glitter of false goods. But this Shadow Christianity will fail us in trouble and death, and must be discarded. It does not save.
A time of great pain and trial is upon us now. As a global civilization we’ve responded to our challenges shamefully, and as individuals, inadequately. All the world’s religions have taught that we must reap as we have sown, so we can foresee a frightful harvest as the world heats up, nuclear waste piles up, and oil, topsoil and fresh water run out. Will we repent in time? Or will Christ tell us, on that final day when we are shown all the souls we’ve injured, “inasmuch as you did this to these, you did it to Me?”
John Jeremiah Edminster, 6/16/2005, as revised 3/24/2007.
The writer is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Print publication of this tract is made possible by a grant from the Witness Coordinating Committee of the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). For more information on the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), call New York Yearly Meeting, (212) 673-5750.
Notes 41 Responses to “Jesus Christ Forbids War”
- I believe that Jesus was absolutely and unmistakably clear in regard to allowing our natural inclination of love to guide us, thereby being totally alien to any kind of hurtful thought or action towards anybody, regardless of the circumstances. He is telling us that our natural state of being is indeed unconditional love and that anything less is behaving insanely “We will make them in our own image.” “God is Love.” We seem to be capable of behaving both lovingly and unlovingly i.e. sanely or insanely.
- I feel that “I bring a sword”, which seems to be the only scripture that connects Jesus with a violent suggestion, are simply “firm” words and are designed to implore us to concentrate and remain focused on reality and do not allow, even those close to us and even our parents, to divert us. He is basically saying, ‘This is the most important thing in your whole life. Your salvation in the most important thing, even more important than the relationship with your family. Don’t worry. They’ll get there too. We all will.’ I feel that we are indeed in the midst of intense pressure to evolve as “heaven is brought to earth.” Although this kingdom is spacious and has room for everybody and everything, regardless of race, colour, sex or anything else, fortunately there is no room for ‘unlove.’ It simply cannot exist in this kingdom. ‘Unlove’ is being quietly, patiently and methodically dismantled, along with our egos, which is the very creator of ‘unlove’. For something that is really not real, we have certainly given ‘unlove’ a lot of leverage, however I can only say that this is part of our journey that needs to be experienced. For this dismantling proces to happen more quickly, it may be too painful and perhaps we would not be able to withstand the intensity. Our Creator knows what he/she is doing – we are in good hands. I believe that although there is much disharmony in the world today, there is ‘light at the end of the tunnel.’ We are heading somewhere. We are heading towards something special. We are indeed a ‘work in progress’. Can we speed up the process? Possibly not – we probably wouldn’t learn the necessary kharmic lessons of “reaping and sowing.” Our Creator indeed knows what he/she is doing.
- Jesus is our ‘Living Icon’, our Mentor, our Teacher, our Lover, our Guardian, our Saviour, our Brother, our Facilitator, our Yardstick, our Guru, our Great Friend, our Greatest Companion whose “yolk is easy and whose burden is light” – His “second coming’ is here in the hearts of every man and woman who has ever lived or will live. We just have to live this reality – and if that means, falling into love with everyone and everything – then so be it. He is telling us that until we do this, we will never truly find happiness, peace and joy and more especially we will never really find God.
- “Everything is reconciled through Christ.” So we lose our ‘illusionary’ life living the ‘real’ life of Christ? “Blessed is he/she who is prepared to give this life for the real life.” It seems to me that there is not even an argument here. There is only one way forward – LOVE. Faithful early Christians knew what they were doing when they gave up their earthly bodies, singing love songs with smiles on their faces.
- I served as a Police Officer for twenty years – I never saw anything positive come from violence. Hope this helps and God Bless You.
Feel free to download and print this tract and distribute it freely. (You may contact the author for a PDF optimally formatted for printing.) Click here for a PDF of Jesus Christ Forbids War. The shortlink for this tract is http://wp.me/P6EeA-1a
Thoughtful responses are welcomed below.
Bible citations are from the King James Version (KJV), New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), or Revised Standard Version (RSV).
- Friend John–I have just finished reading your essay, Jesus Christ Forbids War. I have found it to be one of the clearest statements of this essential discovery of Christianity I have recently seen, and to be written in a form accessible to modern English speakers, which I have not recently seen.I spend time each weekend in a big city at a farmer’s market, and one of the things I do is talk to people about Friends and hand out things for them to read if they have no time. I speak to everybody from Anglicans to Zorastians, with pagans, Buddhists, Wiccans, Presbytarians, Hindus, and Muslims in between.You say that you have a printable PDF. 1) Can I obtain a copy for duplication and free distribution to the general public? 2) Can I reformat it if necessary into a tri-folded 8.5×11-inch sheet? I will make no editorial changes. Or I can lift the text from your website and reformat it most easily that way. I will do nothing without your permission.Kevin
- This article about war expresses what I’ve believed since my teenage year. I applied for CO status in the late 1950s when it was VERY unpopular and people were very angry if they found out you were a CO to all participation in war. I was investigated by the FBI and given my I-0 status. I’m very amazed at how “Bible-believing” Christians are so supportive of and eager to participate in war. The fruitage of war speaks for itself.
- Thanks for this wonderful tool to allow people to understand why we Friends do not participate in war. So many times we talk about the peace testimony without sharing the Foundation for our belief. The reason we are forbidden to fight is that Jesus said we shouldn’t. Either we follow Jesus or not…it is really quite that simple.Hopefully, there are those who will read this and repent and begin to live in the Kingdom of God. Also, this might allow Friends to understand that our testimonies do not stand on their own but are fruits of following Jesus.
- I beleave in the bible and god but my question is isnt there a war going on in the skies right now between good and evil heaven and hell, didnt jesus deciples have to fight evil? Last I would like to know what bible would you recommend I read for legitimate answers about Jesus ? I read somewhere that any publications of the bible printed after 1975-1978 were fixed or false teachings.
- I read the Bible before 1975, and JESUS IS ABOUT PEACE, NOT WAR. You are trying to make excuses for War. IT IS WRONG.
- A lot of people feel that any Bible printed since 1000 are fixed or false teachings – since many gospels were omitted. It seems strange to think those from 1975 would be in error – since they can easily be compared to those printed earlier and see if they differ. But, what of the gospels that were omitted from way back? If we can err in 1975, we certainly could just as easily (or probably more easily – since not that many people could read and there weren’t so many copies to prove our cover-up) err in 1000. So, what is the answer here?Ultimately, we must trust our deepest understandings from the ‘Jesus’ we have come to personalize. At least I believe, we will find truth if we are sincere in our search.Peace and a Happy and Healthy 2008Jean W.
- Hello.I havebeen looking for re-enforcement; strength …WW1,WW11, Korea,Viet Nam, Iraq, 1,Iraq 2, Afghanistan, soon to be Pakistan,Syria and Lebanon………then Mozambibique and Zimbabwe….it is never ending as President Eisenhower forewarned in his Farewell Address….but where is Jesus’s message to us…it is here… in this essay,..for me…
- Dear John:Thanks for the clear and uplifting writing. I have been disturbed by recent polls which show that in the U.S. the more someone attends church the more likely they are to support torture; that the group with the largest percentage against torture is the unchurched. I take this to mean that something has gone deeply wrong at the center of American religious life. Thy essay is good medicine, reminding me to remain true to the message of peace and love even when others do not do so.Thanks
- Dear Jim,Thanks for this, and God bless you! I hadn’t seen the polls, but I’m not surprised. Well, religious hypocrisy is a two-edged sword: as the hard-hearted and self-righteous flock to the churches to strut around and be seen as God’s favorites, they also come dangerously close to God, who may at any moment wake them up! — and then they can’t go on any longer being smug about the world’s cruelty. If they’re Christians, sooner or later they’ll run into the words “Remember those that are in bonds, as bound with them” (Hebrews 13:3) and perhaps the Lord will see to it that they have something like a warning dream, or a night behind bars, to turn them around and start healing them.It occurs to me that it may be a good thing to be part of a faith community with an embarrassing record to live down — you know, the Christians, with their reputation as warmongers, imperialists, bullies, slave traders, genocides, oppressors of women, abusers and molesters of children, vivisectionists, usurers, liars and cheats; it should keep one humble. And it certainly makes one grateful that Jesus was not such a person. And then, once one comes out of the closet and says “I am a Christian” or “I aspire to be worthy of the name ‘Christian’,” all of a sudden one starts to meet the most loveable, sweet, wise, inspiring people that also count themselves to be followers of Jesus Christ! At least, such has been my experience. (And I might have a comparable experience if I converted to Judaism or Islam, for all I know; but my Lord has called me to profess Christian faith and that choice is no longer mine to make.)In any case, I wouldn’t be too distressed about polls that show Christians to be scoundrels and so invite non-Christians to revile or defame us. “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,” said Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:11), and Paul wrote, “Being defamed, we intreat” (1 Corinthians 4:13). It actually makes me happy to see a lot of non-Christian or otherwise “unchurched” people of conscience mobilizing against torture, because stopping torture is so much more important than public relations for Christendom. From my point of view, also, it’s Christ at work in their hearts that’s making them refuse to be complicit any longer with a torturing world — call the Light in their Conscience what they will. All glory be to that Light, in whom is our salvation! If we could only all obey It, we might no longer quibble about what name to call It by!My best,Thy Friend John
- This is a most valuable contribution to understanding just how simple Christ’s message is and why so many in power, including theologans, have had to do great mental gymnastics to justify the unholy institution of war.This devotion to love and peace is what seperates Christianity from Judaism.
- Good to hear from you again, John! And your words of encouragement are very welcome on the day I reprinted another 500 copies of the tract and brought some of them up to the Truth Commission on Conscience in War at Riverside Church this afternoon. It felt like a kiss from God for being faithful and putting in the extra effort.I’m not completely comfortable with the idea that devotion to love and peace separate Christianity from Judaism, because I’ve heard it said (that is, I heard a Quaker Biblical scholar report hearing it from one of his Jewish teachers) that Judaism, rightly understood, is a pacifist religion; I think this idea comes through very strongly in the later chapters of Isaiah. Indeed, 1 Maccabees 2:29-41 records the faithful witness of the thousand who would not defend themselves by arms on the Sabbath, but said “Let us die all in our innocency: heaven and earth shall testify for us, that you put us to death wrongfully” (v. 37, KJV). I think that Jesus would have thought of Himself as a prophet in this same nonviolent Jewish tradition. Not being a Jew myself, except in the sense that all Christians are part of the “wild olive branch” grafted into the tree of Israel (Romans 11:17 ff.), I have no right to speak for Judaism, except to say that I know that a nonviolent reading of its teachings is possible, and I pray that the Messianic Spirit will spread such an enlightened understanding throughout Jewry worldwide in our time.As for Christianity, I could easily cringe in shame over the many violent crimes done in its name over the course of its history if I did not trust that the living Christ disowns them — corrects and forgives their perpetrators, perhaps, but disowns any deed done that regards an opponent as a mere thing to be slaughtered and kicked aside. For such a view of any of our brothers and sisters is contrary to the Gospel of Love. Nonetheless it’s not for me to rebuke or shame any Christian who disagrees with me about this, but rather to try to convert the person by modeling what I believe to be the better way. Please pray that I’ll be strengthened to do this and continue to do this, because I know how easily we can all be diverted from the right path by fear, anger and self-importance.My best to your kids!
- What has gone wrong in American religious life is religion. When have religions (particularly Christianity) been anything more than a source of justifications for the violence and bigotry endemic to our species. Get rid, completely, of any organized religion and understand that nature is the only true religion (don’t waste my time boring me with what some people wrote about that a few thousand years ago… it doesn’t matter).
- Most of us are not “equipped” to become warriors. Thank God! But we must also ask ourselves what the reality of not fighting truly is. If we are to all stay home and clutch our Bibles in hopes of an easier death than Christ, we would experience the wrath of Satan upon us and our families, friends, neighbors, and watch in short order the total massacre and beheading of every Christian on earth. OK, then what? Jesus might return to defend us as He then WILL destroy Satan and hid followers or do we believe that death is the better choice than to “go to all nations and disciple them?” Surely we do not believe that our Lord wants us dead before His purpose for us is accomplished. So before we label our brave Guidian warriors as hateful, could we just agree on reality. It is the irony of such privilege to preach love when the true hero is dying for our freedom to speak of Christ without being decapitated. How then must we proceed in love without defending such freedom to do so? I pray for Christ to change the heart of those that hate us but the scriptures make it clear that they have not the ears to hear His loving message. I love all of God’s creation and I have had the privilege to lead a Muslim or two to Christ. The truth is that Christ wants to work through us and he needs us alive to do so. Do we believe that it is wise to invite Al Qaeda into our homes? Well my dear friends and Brothers and Sisters; the day we stop fighting them is the day we had better have faith that Christ will fight them for us. Or, yes we will simply be dead and useless. Wake up America and stop acting like the infidels that we are accused of. Until then all you pacifistic idealists prepare for your destiny of uselessness as you witness loving suicide. The river “denial” is bloody and against Christ. Please just say thank you Jesus for our blessing of freedom, His creating of brave soldiers, and hope for less need of them until He returns.
- John,Although I appreciate many of your biblical arguments on Jesus forbidding war, you seem to be choosing only verses that support your belief. The Bible is a book with many gray areas, and if you are willing to use it to support one side of such a belief, it’s good to consider the opposition. For instance, you quoted Jesus in Luke 9:56 saying that the Son of Man came to “save men’s lives, not to destroy them.” Indeed, Jesus says this, and I believe He means it. But what about Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:34? “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (ESV). The next verse (10:35) says, “For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”Where does this fit in to your argument? What do we do with these verses? And if Jesus and God are one, which I believe they are, what about the numerous accounts in which God commands the Israelites to physically attack another nation, village, or group of people? It’s God who commands Gideon to slaughter the Midianites with only 300 men. He doesn’t suggest it. He doesn’t say, “Well, there’s no other option.” He doesn’t even say, “Why don’t you try doing a non-violent peace rally—you’ll see how I’ll use that.” No. The God of the universe, the God of all resources, seems to be saying that war is the best option in Gideon’s and others’ situations.You seem to be saying that there is absolutely NO occasion appropriate for the Christian to partake in war, or any kind of violence, for that matter. So if you saw a little girl being raped you would politely ask the perpetrator to stop? Or if someone entered your house and grabbed your child in front of you, you would sit quietly and pray that they come back? I believe Jesus would throw an iron skillet at someone who was harming a child. God’s heart is vividly loud about His concern for defending the weak and vulnerable throughout Old and New Testaments. So the real question at the center of this question of war is this: What does Jesus mean by “love your neighbor”? Is true love looking the other way when militia are violently raping infants and burning down houses full of people in East Africa? Or is true love defending the poor, the needy, the orphan, and the fatherless in the most effective means? Jesus Himself forms a whip—not an object of peace—just to defend His Father’s house. I agree with you as I do with Paul in Romans 12:18, as best we can, live at peace with everyone. But sometimes there are situations that are justifiable to use force against someone. In fact, there may even be situations where we are wrong to not do so—to sit back and do nothing.War is not gonna save anyone’s soul—nor will any military. Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, and our first concern should be to love Him fully and love others as we do ourselves. But we must ask ourselves what it means to love others as ourselves. Most of us would defend our own bodies from an evil person attacking us. If we are to love others like we do ourselves, would we not defend them from the same evil? When we wrestle with the biblical perspectives of war and force, we can’t just pick and chose verses. We must wrestle with all of it–and pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us where we are flawed.
- This is an interesting blog. It seems that those who continually want to feed the fire of hate and anger within them want to rationalize Jesus’ words into allowing for war and anger. He said this, he meant that. Blah blah blah. So much for loving your neighbor as yourself, I suppose. Why are some Christians so insistent on wanting to be antiChristian? Unfortunately, war is a result of our sinful nature. THERE IS NO “JUST” WAR. Even if we are saved, we are still subject to the consequences of sin in the world. The sin of Adam, down through the generations of sinful. but chosen figures in the Bible, and historically through the centuries. When will anyone have the faith and strength to stop the cycle. When Jesus said that he did not bring peace, but a sword, it was not meant literally. He meant that his words would cut through sin like butter. He demands that we love him more than we do our mother and father – that lineage of sin – and break with the past and love what is really sacred. God Himself. Do anyone of you have the guts to love your enemies? As you love yourself? As God demands you do? Doesn’t it seem logical that once you love your enemy they CEASE to be your enemy? And what if they cut you down and kill you? So what? When did Jesus say that we need to be so attached to this world anyway? Shouldn’t our thoughts be in heaven, as he said? Wouldn’t we then be suffering like him, as he EXPECTS us to? Or are you not willing to have FAITH? Resist not evil? Turn the other cheek? Are you afraid of being made into a slave? Is that any worse than you being a SLAVE to SIN which you clearly demonstrate? We can use the Old Testament or Paul or Peter or John to water down what Jesus said, but the TRUTH is that what Jesus says goes. No other commentary necessary. Live your life by what HE SAID and DO WHAT HE DID and boy, I guarantee you that this world will surely pass away and the kingdom of God will appear very, very quickly. We will be transformed in an instant. We as Christians should be ashamed of ourselves for NOT being REAL followers of Jesus. Thank God that He is merciful. So, please stop allowing your fear to give the devil a foothold in your souls. Get a real life and live and die by and with Jesus and His awesome words.
- As a Reorganized Latter Day Saint, I also abhor war. My father walked into the draft board office with scriptures, and walked out a free man, a man who didn’t have to fight in Vietnam.He asked the Military officers if they could guarantee he would not meet a fellow Vietcong Christian on the battle field. Of course the Military officers could guarantee no such thing. Dad had a way with words and the power of suggestion. My father also possessed the gift of speaking to people at their level, in a language they understood.He made it known to the draft board officers he as a Christian was duty bound to protect and defend even the least of these his brother Christians. To my father protecting his Christian brothers and sisters, be they black, white, Red, Yellow, or Vietcong, required he must first lay down his own life for their sakes.The draft board let dad, go. Through the use of scripture, good speaking and the workings of the Holy Spirit, the draft board assumed dad was indicating he might turn his own gun on his fellow troops to protect his possible Vietcong Christian brothers.Dad hated war! I as his son, have inherited the same hatred for war.Be it war of words, politics, sports, ” especially religion ” or any level where men strive against each other for personal gain and profit, where men work to the invalidation of his brother and fellow human beings, all is part of the game of war.Our society has glamorized the war game into a thing we call sport. We even call it business! The Majority of us as a Christian people have allowed ourselves to become brainwashed by our government and churches to believe war is of God!When really war is of the devil.We forget that God only used war as a last resort. To destroy a hardened, and hard hearted people, who would not repent of their sins, who hated God, who wondered after their own lusts, who did more harm to the earth and their fellow man than God could justify. Men who loved to do endless evil to their fellow man. Oppressing the poor, and despising those who would walk honestly before God and all men.God is the great balancing scale and judge. Does a man do more harm to God’s purpose that good? It depend upon us as his people to answer that question.Thank you so much for posting an article that calls war for what it is.It’s good to see I and my family are not alone. That others regardless of race or religion feel the same as I.God bless you all!
- You’re welcome, nonchristian follower; I appreciate having your company as we follow Him on this blessed and surprise-filled journey.
- of course,as Christians,we hate evil and all the actions of it(proverbs 8:13).on this,the article is right.but when Jesus said do not resist an evil person,when he said turn the other cheek,when he said to endure persecution,he meant this.let’s say a street preacher is spreading the gospel,someone gets mad(John 7:7)(John 15:18) and decides to slap him,throw water at him,or push him or something.that’s what he meant.dont retaliate.we are to bless them,not curse them.we spread the word,are treated shamefully,and don’t retaliate.this is what not fighting back against evil means.that’s why we are made fools for Christ sake (1 Corinthians 4:10-13~2 Thessalonians 1:4).now this is what he means by faithful unto death-Revelation 2:10~”fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer:behold,the devil shall cast some of you into prison,that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days:be thou faithful unto death,and I will give thee a crown of life.”Matthew 16:21-26~”from that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem,and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,and be killed,and be raised again the third day.then peter took him,and began to rebuke him,saying,be it far from thee,Lord:this shall not be unto thee.but he turned,and said unto peter,get thee behind me,satan:thou art an offence unto me:for thou savourest not the things that be of God,but those that be of men.then said Jesus unto his disciples,if any man will come after me,let him deny himself,and take up his cross,and follow me.forwhosoever will save his life shall lose it:and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.for what is a man profited,if he shall gain the whole world,and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”so what does faithful unto death mean? if persecuted,if someone says deny Christ or die,you choose death and remember,to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord(2 Corinthians 5:8).now finally about weapons,war,soldiers,and the police.Ecclesiastes 3:8~”a time to love,and a time to hate;a time of war,and a time of peace.”Proverbs 21:15~”it is joy to the just to do judgment:but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.”Romans 13:4-7~”for he is the minister of God to thee for good.but if thou do that which is evil,be afraid;for he beareth not the sword in vain:for he is the minister of God,a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.wherefore ye must needs be subject,not only for wrath,but also for conscience sake.forfor this cause pay ye tribute also:for they are God’s ministers,attending continually upon this very thing.render therefore to all their dues:tribute to whom tribute is due;custom to whom custom;fear to whom fear;honour to whom honour.”God has allowed for just wars throughout the history of his people.he doesn’t just allow for soldiers and police,he puts them there(Romans 13:4).don’t you know what would happen if we didn’t have our fighting men and women?our soldiers and police?if a loved one,father,mother,brother,or sister were being assaulted,would you just stand there and do nothing?no.of course not.that would be a sin,that would be aiding the evil.John 15:13~”greater love hath no man than this,that a man lay down his life for his friends.”we should be grateful and thankful for our soldier’s and police,our defenders,and God,our true defender and loving father who protects his children.we should pray for the lives and souls of our fighting men and women,and that God would give them strength.may God bless you.
- World more peacefully without war.
- This is an interesting conversation. I was researching in regard to Jesus’ thoughts in relation to the notion and implications of war because it’s “Anzac” Day in Australia today. This day commemorates the lives of people involved in war and reflecting and remembering these special people who were called upon and innocently did what they did for the sake of freedom. I am confused, however, because sprinkled throughout the speeches given is the suggested correlation between Jesus’ “cross” and the sacrifice of countless brothers and sisters across the globe during times or war.
- Jesus often challenges us as a matter of serious importance – “repent” which I believe to be the correct interpretation for the Greek word, “metayona” which means ‘to change the way you think’. Very often and usually always, our perceptions are found to be either marginally, partially or completely incorrect. The implications relating to these ‘errors’ of judgement can be far reaching and are usually at the heart of every quarrel, Our egos have decided that we are all experts and believes it a weakness to even consider the view of another person. Our egos are infatuated with the process of ‘winning at all cost’, and this has had severe consequences for a very, very long time. Our souls are being stirred as the “Great Lover” really ramps up in these ‘times of intensity’ because technology has advanced at such a rate and a severe imbalance is not ideal. We are indeed in the throws of necessary great change and the human mind is being personally and collectively ‘pressured’ to evolve. We have our Great Teacher whose ‘Sermon on the Mount’ sets out completely and instinctively ‘how’ to start the initial process, thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to initiate the ‘new heart’. The ‘Great Lover’ allows free will (as only love could) and knows that ‘salvation is imminent’ – it is all a ‘work in progress.’ Therefore, as a final act of sanity, when we are sick and tired of behaving in insanity and when we are exhausted from doing it all ‘wrong’ and we are ripe for the picking, we say, “please help me.” Now, the great Psychologist, Jesus says, “trust me – just be like me. You are me and I am you. We are the Heart of God. It’s the nature of God” At this point, one cannot even entertain the notion of hurting another person let alone taking the life of another. Everything becomes sacred and the universe is a very good and benevolent place – one that we can trust, no matter what happens. Just one more thing that really inspires me is this – if all of the electrons that do their thing in atoms (spinning and vibrating and moving and grooving and everything else) that creates matter to be matter, stopped and just did nothing for a moment……………there would basically be……… completely nothing. Is this worth ‘fighting’ for? There is only LOVE – nothing else. Isn’t that the best news you have ever heard? Go on – don’t take my word for it – ask yourself – will the REAL me please stand up? Funny how, when we see a bird flying or a fish swimming, we don’t say, “that special bird is flying” or “that special fish is swimming.” We all know that birds fly and fish swim. When a person is kind, compassionate and shows love, we say, “Wow, that person is really lovely.” Why – because we forgot that birds fly and fish swim and humans……………….well……we LOVE. That’s really all that we are really capable of…….in reality. Otherwise, the Gospel is not the Gospel and then we really are in trouble. I’m going with the first scenario – the one that breathes LIFE. We are all tired and worn out from sampling the alternative. Get excited – the ‘birth pains’ are well and truly here – feel the essence of Christ welling up inside your hearts, bubbling with LIFE. These are very cool times indeed – get with it!
- Amen Brother!I recently found God. I hope that one day I can articulate and teach his message as well as you do John. Can you recommend some tips? What’s the fastest way to learn to teach and love God even more? I just want to be closer to him, to be one with him, walking and spreading his love and healing for the world. To “Deny thyself and pick up the cross”.Your comment within the comments:“But then I perceive that the writer of the comment is in the habit of making himself look good in his own eyes by making others look bad, and cares little about checking his projections against the evidence; otherwise he would not have been able to imply, with a straight face, that the writer of Jesus Christ Forbids War “labels our brave Guidian [sic] warriors as hateful.””…resonates with me. I find that as my love for God strengthens, I care less about self validation and I only seek to open the flow of gods love into my heart and let his love run through my veins. However, the realities of money and supporting my family always seems to bring me to a strange crossroads of a paradoxial balance of spirituality vs. worldly problems…….Oh, the joys and challenges that god bring us… I am so thankful!
- Thankyou for all of your wise and powerful words – you have all inspired me today. I only wish that I lived next door to you, John, so that I could really get to know you. I have been reading your writings and I can honestly say that I have never been inspired by an individual’s raw honesty and plain integrity and wisdom than you (and I have read a lot). There’s a kind on sheer, soulful nakedness about you that I really love – nothing to defend, only love to promote (it seems) – I am truly inspired and I really love you.Sometimes I feel that mankind is really living the lfe of God, warts and all and if we could say to God, “How do you feel about the way things are?”, I feel that God would say something like this, “Please remember – We made all of you as a reflection of our character. Therefore, We are the essence of pure love, nothing more, nothing less. We have certainly felt what it is like to really extend Our ability to make choices and We love our resourcefulness. We literally will not die wondering. We knew this would not be ‘a walk in the park’ but that is the price We all pay for complete transparency. The inherant nature of life is that Our lives are always challenged and We will all grow together. We have our mentors to check in with. We all know them – they are dotted right through history, and sprinkled across our various religions that came into play during the journey. If They bear fruit, We can count them as qualified and We can trust them – We know who We are. We are the ones who cannot do anthing else except love. We are You and all of Us – it’s just that We ‘remembered’ a little sooner, that is all. In some ways, what inspires Us is Our ability to keep going. We are happy with Our lot – We have challenges ahead however We are up to the task. We are self correcting and therefore We cannot be defeated. We would like you to watch how a butterfly is created – meditate on the entire process – this is Our journey and We will travel this journey as one cosmic flow. Watch the river and the ocean. Why does love feel so good? We amaze ourselves with Our will to go on. We are wonderful. Please don’t give up. Carry Our cross with both hands – no matter what. We are happy”Have a beatiful day today, my dearest friends.
- I feel this, just feelings, the feelings of just one dot of seven billion dots, Just one life experience in God’s eternal flow of experience. A gig, I suppose, in the grand human show, where we are given a very small part and as the characters’ parts unwind, the opportunities present an ever evolving movement towards something better. It seems that God’s Job Description is simply that – an endless supply of “red carpets” (like the ones saved up for the king and queen), uniquely presented, tailor made and fitted at God’s discretion, for the sole purpose of God experiencing God’s self – God holds God’s breath. We simply take it or leave it – sadly, we mostly leave it. Our parched faces and thickened hearts and skins are a testament to that. My own silly, bumbling life is a testament to that. So God spells things out a little more clearly and comes to earth as us. But can we trust the text, the ambiguities, the interpretations, the translations, the questionable bias opinions of the writers, the church, our own biases and of course whether we exist at all? What else do we have? When the dust settles and we realise that we are merely earth itself, humus, a series of living matter, given an attempt at consciousness with a breath through the nostrils, a rhythmic flow of ins and outs, ups and downs, a moment in time really. As we stand on this earth, for just one more day, wounded and broken, it can become apparent that we are very limited and very fragile and very temporary. We are all going to die. The early Christians had it all worked out and sang and praised and loved as they met their sometimes painful endings. The Saviour’s energy was very present and very real and very cutting, it seems. What happened? Can I be trusted to accept he next “red carpet” as it is tirelessly and mercifully rolled out before the broken mess of a man again? “In His Will Is His Peace” (Dante).1945-1946 is a long time, John. It seems to me that you are a humble man and that you have chosen “red carpets” on lots of occasions. He says, “You will tell by the fruit.” Your words have been of great benefit to me. Can we all choose the “red carpets” today? Is life really real or an opportunity, if nothing else, to experience God’s personality? Maybe just one shot. Maybe, “I never knew. I am so sorry”, will feel like “gnashing of teeth.” I think this feeling would feel like “gnashing of teeth.” I don’t think anybody would like “gnashing of teeth.” Some will say, “You have avoided the big deal here in this world with your idealistic views and your dreamy ideas! You have suggested nothing to help the situation.” I would bow my head and humbly agree with you. I am tired. Maybe we all can be tired? I am a dissenter. Could even be branded a traitor.
Leave a Reply