Some Idle Reflections on Christian Pacifism

As much as I tend to talk about it I am rather terrible at this whole Christian pacifism thing.

I try to act as though I have everything together but underneath my sometimes groomed exterior is a raging sea frothing with emotions, feelings and thoughts wanting to explode forth. Normally all it takes is hearing about someone being taken advantaged of or abused and I am ready to fly into a rage.

Pacifism is not against taking action when bad things happen (that is actually one of the most often misunderstood things about pacifism), Jesus did not advocate a stance which was stoic apathy toward our well being and those around us, instead he commanded against choosing to give into our urge to find revenge.

One of our most basic desires is to seek right when we are wrong, often in a manner which not only gives us reparations but gives our enemy such vivid disadvantages that they have trouble recovering.

"If they hurt me, I'll hurt them back."
Or maybe...
"If I can hurt them so much they can't ever fight back then nobody will ever mess with me and will leave me be."

Maybe that is how the world and governments work...I am not quite sure to be honest.
I just know that every time I open my mouth in my defense very bad things tend to happen.

I don't want to fight.
I want to be at peace.
I do not handle stress well at all and tend to internalize everything to the point where it just ends up making me physically sick.

I mean, I tend to take scripture seriously and when I come across passages like this:

"Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone."
-Romans 12:17-18

and

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile,carry it two miles. Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow."
-Matthew 5:38-42

as well as

"But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. But if you refuse to forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins."
-Mark 11:25-26


I sort of begin to draw a series of conclusions that are far reaching as they are troublesome for living life

1.When we are hurt we react but we can choose how to react.
I guess this is sort of an obvious conclusion but for every action there is a reaction...especially if someone is being slapped around or taken advantage of.
The question is how to react?
How much is too much?

From personal experience...I am starting to think that Christians are not supposed to allow themselves to be destroyed because of being taken advantage of...this teaching is meant to help us overcome our base instinct to be destructive when we experience pain and mistreated by others. It is easy to be so overcome with bitterness that all we care about is revenge.

The last thing any person should do is keep themselves in a relationship, a situation where they are being drained and taken advantage of. I think there is a difference between turning the cheek and unnecessarily making ourselves into a self-righteousness martyr as an act of codependency.


2.Pacifism is a choice to be proactive in responding.
I wrote earlier than one of the biggest misunderstandings about pacifism is that it is this stoic apathy where there is no emotion or care about people being in pain. I believe Christian Pacifism is the opposite, caring so much about a situation that we rise above the petty nature of name calling and fighting to try and solve underlying issues at hand.

If people are so concerned about getting even and hitting back first there is no time to talk...no time to try and understand why things are so screwed up. Of course this takes for granted that human passions will never wait for words of wisdom...


3.This teaching is so integral to Christianity being relevant in this world because until someone decides 'enough is enough' and to refuse to hit back, violence will not end a situation as much as cause it to prolong.

Although it feels it may border on cliche, I believe John Philpot Curran had a valid point when he said that "Evil prospers when good men do nothing."

It is easy to make grand statements about morality and the impossibilities inherent in the human condition but maybe I'll just quote my favorite anime Trigun:

"To realize a mistake. To not lie. To love one another. To not kill. Those are very simple things, but the times won't allow for them. There is no green on this planet, even though we want it, though we want it so badly. A place where we can live peaceful days, with no wars nor stealing, a sacred place where people can live as people. Yes, there. That place is called Paradise..."

But we live in a world of gray with shades of black and white.
It is impossible and impractical to expect non-Christians (and to an extent maybe even those in the church) to adhere to such a radical teacher as the messiah Jesus when they haven't experienced what it means to be caught up in love with Him.

In this Age we will never see world peace, we will never see all disease and pain eliminated, for war to be given up on and poverty completely eliminated...however just because it cannot be done does not given an excuse for us to not try and make a difference in this broken world.

And that difference cannot come from within us, it requires power from One outside of and much bigger than us.


"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

"The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”"
-Matthew 19:23-26

((Side note:...wow, what a pretentious sounding title. I think I am already sounding like a overpaid and under-talented writer who has books at Lifeway...ack... >_<))