Thoughts on Christian non-violence

Why do we only talk about either doing nothing while someone kills your family or killing the person who is coming to harm you. Can't there be another way? The Nazi were people just like us, broken and in need of Jesus, not in need of a bullet in their chest. Same with the Ukrainians and the Russians.

I am all for you going to those places and sharing the gospel do you need some contacts to get you there?

You are taking this verse out of context. Here is the whole context, Luke 22:35-38,
35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’[b]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”
38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”
“That’s enough!” he replied.

Jesus had them buy a sword, (which in this case was only two so not enough for each man to defend himself). because he had to fulfill the prophecy about him and his followers being rebels and transgressors. When Jesus was arrested and his followers pulled out their swords and used them, they looked like rebels and transgressors and they fulfilled the prophecy, leading Jesus to say that those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

Hi guys! I have been thinking about non-violence and whether Christians should ever be violent and here are my thoughts.

When you become a Christian, you are giving your entire life over to Christ. Your life is not your own anymore and you are now called to deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow Jesus. This means that you are now stepping into a spiritual war and this war is Jesus and his followers against the devil and his demons. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 says, 3 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” In Ephesians 6:12, Paul says, 12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We can see in these passages of scripture that we are told that the battle we face when we follow Jesus is not with the image bears of Christ that live on the earth but against the demons and dark powers of this world that can inhabit said image bears. We also see that when we fight this battle, we do not fight it with the weapons of this world but with the spiritual weapons that are given to us by God like the armor mentioned in Ephesians 6.

In Hebrews 4:12 we read, 12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints, and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Now, back at the time when this was written, the sword was the most popular weapon that someone would use when fighting because it was versatile, but a double-edged sword was an incredibly special weapon because it had a blade on either side. Now if this were to be written in modern times, I do not believe that we would use swords as our analogy, but guns would fit that a little better. So, one could say that the word of God is more powerful than any gun and if that is the case then if we are talking about nonviolence then why would we never need to use a gun when we have the word of God.

Just some initial thoughts on the subject but would love to know what you guys think and would love to keep the conversation going.

EXACTLY RIGHT!

You saved me the trouble of saying the same thing.

I see it as Jesus directing themselves to be able to defend their small group without coming off as a military movement.

If someone is kidnapping your child, you don't pick up your phone and call the police and hope they sort it out as your child is being dragged away.


I've had to defend the helpless before, and I have had to also eat humble pie when it wasn't my place to pay someone back for how they wronged me or a loved one.

We should look to God and seek His will for any decision we make.

Physical force against another may never be required for someone in their walk, where as to another they may have to act on multiple occasions in order for them to do what was right in their situation.

God himself has waged wars in the bible.

When it comes to something like the police, then we should consider the following

This probably needs another thread altogether but Romans 13 is not about worldly powers, it is about those within the kingdom of God.

So, story time.

I don't like killing animals at all much less just for sport. I eat what I kill with a few exceptions.

One exception was for a racoon that came after my wife. That was the last mistake he made.

Another was a bird that attacked the reflection of itself on our house windows. This went on for a year and even through the winter. It was getting to the point it was disrupting our sleep and rest. I tried to shoot it with no luck (and I'm a pretty good shot). So, I asked the Lord to "Deliver it into my hands".

My wife woke me early one morning to tell me "I think the bird is trapped in our sun porch". Sure enough it was him. I donned gloves and needless to say, he now sleeps with the fishes.

I had an opportunity to show it mercy but I could not since it was most disruptive to my wife. Had it caused me and me alone discomfort, I might have let it live. But since I am charged with the care and love for my wife, the bird had to go.

So, one could say that the word of God is more powerful than any gun and if that is the case then if we are talking about nonviolence then why would we never need to use a gun when we have the word of God.

Yes, he did, BUT those were situations where people's sins had basically come to the full in that they were doing things like sacrificing their own children to false "gods" in the fire.

Is it truly the same with today's wars?

I'm personally convinced that several of this nation's wars have been waged under false pretenses. You know, like that whole "Saddam Hussein is hiding weapons of mass destruction!" thing.

Anyhow, I personally worked with this nation's Veterans for 16 straight years at 40 different VA Hospitals, and many of them told me that they believed the same thing. Not only this, but many of them were bitter against their own government in that they lost a lot of their comrades and/or suffered great injuries (and not just physical injuries...almost every Vet that I met, if not all of them, suffered greatly from PTSD) themselves under what they later concluded to be false pretenses.

In fact, many of them had this motto:

"I love my country, but fear my government."

when this was declared, ONE sword was brought out

So you dont think nowadays governments dont worship idols? Its all the same. Rebellion against God. Today the idols may not always be of wood. But stone and self glorification.