Christians Should Not Be Violent-Prone, But Not Harmless Either
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, He hates with a passion.’ (Psalm 11:5); ‘“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”’ (Matthew 26:52)
Violence is never the solution to non-violent problems. For the Christian, violence should only be a response to an initiation of violence and the last resort after all steps are taken to avoid such a conflict. We find in Psalm 11:5 that God does not like violence; He is a God of peace and love.
Some may wonder why then does it appear that God uses death or destruction often in the Old Testament? Again, it is often the last resort for people who have taken violent, abhorrent actions as a first step, and then have not stopped or repented but instead have fallen deeply into the lust of sin and bloodshed. In each example in the Old Testament, God was acting against those who would not stop; Sodom and Gomorrah, the flooding of Noah’s time, the first Passover of Egypt, the angelic slaughter of Sennacherib’s army – each was a final action after repeated warnings to stop the depravity of men.
The Lord instead provides for those who do not approach issues with violence but instead use His peace and love to resolve conflicts. Jesus in Matthew 5:25 tells us to settle disputes between each other by talking with each other first, before escalating to a court of law, or violence. Should violence enter the conflict against us, if it is not threatening one’s life or causing great harm, we are to ‘turn the other cheek’ (Matthew 5:39), again not to strike back but regain civility and deescalate the tensions.
Some (including myself) have pointed to the account in John 2:13-22 of Jesus’ turning over the tables of the moneychangers and whipping them out of the Temple grounds as an upper limit to ‘WWJD?’ As with the previous accounts of the Old Testament, Jesus did not initiate the violence, but the thieves He encountered did by violating the sanctity of the Temple grounds, committing sinful acts purposely and without repent.
Though it is not in Scriptures, I believe Jesus likely told them, firmly but lovingly to ‘stop, pack up, and go’. The thieves likely did not, so Jesus did the least intrusive thing to have them stop; He made a whip out of cords and ‘encouraged’ them to move on. What He could of done, of course, would be to curse them and have them drop dead on the spot; however, due to their escalation He did use a minimal amount of force to encourage them to leave while allowing them to (hopefully) learn and repent.
Like Jesus, we should not be violent-prone, but we cannot be weak while being meek. We should not be seen as ‘harmless’ as that provokes attacks. As Jesus states in Matthew 26:52, those who jump to violence will often be harm by the violence brought on by their own actions. But if deadly violence is brought upon us, we do not have to ‘take it’, or roll over and be killed, or have our families suffer or be killed. We can defend ourselves against such intrusions, up to and including deadly force, only if it is necessary to stop the attack. Again, the point is that we are not to initiate or cause an attack, but we can respond up to the level to stop an attack upon us.
As we see increasing violence in the world, we need to remember David’s praise and plea to the Lord in Psalm 18:48; ‘<God> saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man You rescued me.’ Christians are not to be violent in nature, and we must seek peace. However, if confronted, we are to try to deescalate as much as possible, walking away if that ends the issue in peace. If that does not stop and violence comes, then let it be not you who initiates the acts of violence but do what must be done to stop it.
