Why I Am Not a Pacifist

Just a quick thought I had while driving home from Eau Claire tonight. The term 'pacifism' is an unhelpful one. If being a pacifist means that I never want to throttle someone, then I am not a pacifist. If it means that I don't think there's anyone in the world who needs killing, then I am not a pacifist. If, however, it means that I recognize that Jesus is Lord and rules over a peaceful kingdom and commands us to be a nonviolent people shaped by the Gospel and devoted to loving our enemies, then I guess I qualify.

But, of course, that's not what it means, at least not practically. Pacifism is almost always presented as a proposition rather than a practice. And subscribing to a proposition like pacifism doesn't make you peaceful any more than a PETA membership makes you a vegetarian.

Same thing with the Gospel. It's no proposition either. A bunch of people agreeing that Jesus died and was raised doesn't change anything. Just gives us one more group of obnoxious folks shooting off their mouths to everyone who isn't like them that we get to write off. If, however, those people are committed to really living under the lordship of Christ, if we really do love our neighbors and our enemies, putting our own lives aside in the name of Christ for the redemption of the world (and by 'world' I mean social orders, suffering, injustice, etc. - not just individual souls), then there's hope. But if we subscribe to the myth of redemptive violence instead of the Gospel, then we're not Christian - at least not in that area - and that part of our thinking hasn't been shaped by the Gospel. Big part. We've missed something very close to the heart of the Gospel as well. Big something.

If we really do follow Christ in his sufferings - if we would rather be victims, loving our enemies more than ourselves, our rights, and our property - that doesn't make us pacifists. It just makes us Christian.

Peace on Earth.