Faith First Media

Pacifism: Following Christ’s Example

by Matthew Elton

copyright 2010 Matthew Elton

matt@faithfirstmedia.com



“You just need to look at what the gospel asks, and what war does. The gospel asks that we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the homeless, visit the prisoner, and perform works of mercy. War does all the opposite. It makes my neighbor hungry, thirsty, homeless, a prisoner, and sick. The gospel asks that we take up our cross. War asks that we lay the cross of suffering on others.”

--Dorothy Day

As Christians, we are called to follow the example of Jesus.  Jesus did not use violence to try to stop evil.  In fact, Isaiah 53:9 tells us plainly that Jesus never used violence.  He broke bread with sinners, stopped Peter from fighting to prevent his arrest, and even forgave those who crucified him.  Jesus overcame evil not by resisting it, but by not resisting it, and in his death the price for the sins of mankind is fully paid, to bring salvation to many.

Because of his death and resurrection, we have the hope of that salvation, and live not for this day and age, but for the age to come.  We are called to follow the example, teaching, and commands of Jesus in every aspect of life, which requires self-sacrifice, endurance through persecution, and suffering.  Jesus said "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23).  He also said, "he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:28).

Christ's teachings can be summed up in two great commandments: Love God, and love one another (Matthew 22:36-40).  To love someone is to care about them more than you care about yourself.  This self-sacrificial love is the heart of Christ's teachings about loving your enemies, praying for those who persecute you, and doing good to those who harm you (Matthew 5).  We are to do this in order to be children of God - to be like God, who through his longsuffering continually puts up with an evil world, shows it mercy and grace, and even sacrifices for people who don't deserve it.  Jesus showed us this self-sacrificial love by dying in our place while we were still sinners and "enemies of God" (Romans 5:10).  If we want to be Christians, that is, followers of Jesus, we have to actually follow Jesus by following his example of self-sacrificial love, by loving our enemies, even those who don't deserve it, just as Jesus loved us and therefore suffered for us, even when we didn't deserve love.

A few years ago, an Amish man's son was murdered by a gunman. The Amish man did not make any attempt to defend his son through violence. When the gunman later committed suicide, the entire Amish congregation from that area attended the gunman’s funeral and visited the gunman’s family in order to comfort them. The Amish forgave the gunman for the murder he committed and told the gunman’s family that they were sorry for the family's loss. I am absolutely convinced that such love and compassion is far more powerful in changing even the most vile of hearts than any police action or judicial punishment could ever be!

Critics will argue that loving someone does not guarantee that they will change and be loving back.  However, I don't see how this is relevant.  We don't love selfishly in order to receive love back.  Whether we receive love back or not is completely irrelevant.  If someone doesn’t change or love back, that’s their problem!

We are to love because it's what God does, and as children of God, we follow him.  God loves the whole world, even though most people don't love him back!  He still shows grace and mercy, allowing sinners to continue to exist day after day (even though they deserve to die for their sins), and even sacrificing his Son for their salvation, even though they don't deserve it.  If we want to follow God, we must follow this example of love.

Critics will argue that if all Christians acted like the Amish do, then they would be trampled on and destroyed by the evil forces of the world, because they refuse to fight back.  I agree.  But this shouldn’t stop us from following the commandments of peace that Jesus gave us.  Jesus assures us that we will experience persecution, but it's all going to be okay in the end, because in the age to come Jesus will return, the dead in Christ will rise and receive eternal life, and Jesus will rule as King of kings and establish perfect peace over the whole Earth, and bring the Kingdom of God to fulfillment on a new and perfect world.  Because we know that there will be a happy ending one day, we have strength to endure persecution today.  Even if Christianity is completely destroyed because it refused to fight back, it will all be okay in the end because Jesus is coming back! 



The idea of fighting violence with violence is self-defeating.  When you repay evil with evil, you only end up with more overall evil.  You're also no better than the one committing evil, since you're also committing evil yourself.  If we fought violence with violence, we would be no different from the worldly nations of this world.  Our true citizenship is in the Kingdom of God, which is not like other nations.  We must stop treating the Kingdom of God as if it were a mere worldly institution.  Jesus said "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm" (John 18:36).



In the early Christian church (before Constantine), Christians were not allowed to serve in the military, and if a soldier wished to become a Christian, he had to first desert from his patrol (which was a crime punishable by death).  The early Christians took pacifism very seriously. Here are some great quotes by early Christians of the first through fourth centuries.

See also:

• Conquering Evil by Doing Good
• The Example of the Anabaptists
• A Return to Christian Nonviolence