Peacemaking VS Non-Violence
There is a class we have begun offering this year at our church to teach women how to be safe in the world and help them recover from trauma. It’s a unique and needed class that I think is doing a lot of good.
Cleaning up after the last class, a couple of the ladies asked a similar question in different ways. The question was essentially this, “Learning what we have, how do we live out an ethic of non-violence?”
This is such a great question and I think one that is particularly wrapped in misunderstanding among modern American Christians.
To clarify, “non-violence” or “non-violent resistance” is not a Christian ethic.* Christians do, however have a Christ-commissioned ethic of being peacemakers. Non-violence or non-violent resistance is simply a tool – or a category of tools – in the toolbox of the peacemaker.
This misunderstanding generally comes to modern American Christians from one of two places, a misunderstanding of Jesus’ teachings or a misunderstanding of the Civil Rights Movement.
In Matthew chapter five, Jesus is teaching his followers how to live out the ethics of the Kingdom. In verse 38, he begins a short teaching on the law of lex talionis, or “an eye for an eye” when he says:
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Jesus is clearly teaching about tools in the toolbox for peacemakers and not universally applicable strategies. By “do not resist the evil person,” Jesus obviously doesn’t mean that it is immoral to lock your doors, defend your children, or offer resistance to someone making unwanted sexual advances. That misapplication of Jesus’ teachings certainly wouldn’t limit the suffering in the world. So what does he mean by don’t “resist” the evil person?
The word “resist” in its original language means to stand in opposition to – think, standing in front of someone. Jesus is teaching us clever ways to come at the problem from different angles and bring the evil person to see the right side of things – again tools for the toolbox of the peacemaker. Turning the other cheek in the customs of the day, forces an adversary to treat you like an equal, a person of equal worth. In the customs of the day, taking your shirt off in a court room and giving it to the person that just sued the coat off your back shames both the suing party and the court, showcasing their injustice in oppressing the poor. The only person who could force a Jew to walk a mile with them was a Roman soldier who could force you to carry their gear for up to one mile. After that, the soldier would be breaking the law. Attempting to carry their gear the second mile would create a comical scene where the soldier is trying to get you to stop doing what they had forced you to do – again, shifting the dynamic and exposing the injustice.
All of the examples Jesus uses are nested in the cultural and legal context of his day, but he is telling us to be creative with our strategies for peacemaking. Think about ways you can address and expose wrong doing, oppression, and injustice for what it is. Think of ways you can win over the oppressor and get them to come to the light. If we treat this teaching of Jesus’ or even his examples – stripping down to your underwear in the court room, etc. – as universally applicable mandates, we will miss Jesus’ message and potentially add to the suffering in the world.
What about non-violent resistance in the Civil Rights Movement? Wasn’t that a Jesus-inspired ethic that brought about needed legal and social change in America?
No. Once again, non-violent resistance in the Civil Rights Movement was a tool, not an ethic. The ethic people were trying to live out was a pursuit of justice and peacemaking. The non-violent protests were a tool in the toolbox. There were carefully planned demonstrations to lead individuals and the public at large to see the ugliness of their own hatred and bigotry, while at the same time revealing the dignity and goodness of those they oppressed. It was a beautiful and effective application of the Way of Jesus, but it wasn’t the only tool they used in their peacemaking toolbox.
The Civil Rights Movement would have ground to a halt if the homes and families of its leaders and participants couldn’t be kept safe. People couldn’t engage in non-violent protests while their homes were burning, their children were being kidnapped, or their families were being killed. In order to preserve the movement and the lives of the people they cared for, their communities became armed camps. Dr. King’s house was like an arsenal, he applied for a concealed carry permit – which the government denied him without due process or just cause – and there were armed patrols around his house and neighborhood. You can read more about this HERE.
The King camp of the Civil Rights movement didn’t attempt to advance their cause through violence like other factions of the movement did – and thankfully the King faction was the one that won out – but they did use the tools of violence to protect their families and neighbors from being hurt or killed. That was another, important tool in the toolbox of these peacemakers.
It has been a long-held belief among Christians that to stand by and do nothing while someone hurts or kills an innocent when it is within your power to protect them is a violation of Jesus’ second greatest commandment – “Love your neighbor as yourself” – as well as a violation of the intent and spirit of the sixth commandment – “Do not murder.”
Non-violence is simply a tool or a category of tools in the peacemaker’s toolbox, but the use of violence to protect the innocent and vulnerable is also an important tool.
May we all learn to be better peacemakers and live faithfully the Way of Jesus.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Jesus, Matthew 5:9
*There have been individual Christians and small groups of Christians over the years who have attempted to make an ethic of non-violence, but as Thomas Paine pointed out in his letter to a group of Quakers, that is to choose callous self-righteousness over love of neighbor.
[Picture is of a Meerkat standing guard over his mob or clan.]
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