We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
The Source of Violence
When people think of violence, they think of physical violence. But the truth is that our actions are only violent because our hearts and minds are violent first.
For this reason, Jesus emphasizes purging violence from our minds as much as from our physical behavior. In Matt 5:21-26, he reminds us of the OT command not to murder, for “anyone who murders will be subject to judgment” (v 21). But he goes on to stress that hostile thoughts and emotions against others are as inconsistent with God’s reign as actual murder: “I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment (v 22).
Violent attitudes are also reflected in violent speech, which is inappropriate for followers of Jesus. So Jesus adds, “Anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. And anyone who say, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell’ (v 22 and Matt 12:36).
Jesus is saying that anyone who harbors anger toward another or makes a slanderous comment stands under the judgment of God as much as if they had actually committed murder. For such thoughts, emotions, and words violate the intrinsic unsurpassable worth of people and are inconsistent with the reign of God.
If we are going to live in the peace-loving way of Jesus, the place for us to start is by “taking every thought captive to Christ” and purging all violence from our minds.
Our violent tendencies will never stop unless violence is purged from our hearts. Ask God to help you examine yourself to locate any hostility you harbor toward others. One of the best ways to flesh out non-Kingdom sentiments hidden within us is to practice agreeing with God about peoples unsurpassable worth by blessing everyone you happen to come upon or think about. Be particularly intentional to bless people whose behavior you don’t approve of.
As you bless them, be attentive to any thoughts and attitudes that disagree with your blessing stance toward people. When you identify non-Kingdom thoughts and attitudes, do not pass judgment on yourself. Simply turn from them (repent) and embrace thoughts and attitudes that agree with the estimation God expressed toward these people on Calvary. Then ask God to help you discern why you harbor hostile thoughts and attitudes. Behind every anti-Kingdom thought and attitude (as well as action) lies a false source of Life. So ask God to help you locate the idol in your life that is producing the violence in your mind.
—Adapted from Repenting of Religion, pages 95-96, 193-194
Photo credit: ssoosay via Visual Hunt / CC BY
Related Reading
What did Jesus mean when he said he came not to bring peace, but a sword (Mt 10:34)?
Given Jesus’ uniform teaching about loving enemies and abstaining from violence, and given that his followers were known for their refusal to engage in violence for the first three hundred years of church history, it’s obvious that Jesus wasn’t saying he came so that his disciples would use swords. The context of Jesus’ comment makes…
Should churches have armed security guards?
Question: Recently (December, 2007) a security guard at New Life Church in Colorado Springs shot and apparently killed a man who was shooting people in the church parking lot. The pastor (Brady Boyd) hailed her as a “real hero.” Do you think churches should have armed security guards and do you think the pastor was…
Will Violence against ISIS Root Out Evil?
Image by arbyreed via Flickr Fallen humans tend to identify their own group as righteous and any group that opposes them as evil. If they were not evil, we tend to believe, no conflict would exist. Hence, the only way to end the conflict is to rid the world of this evil. This is the age-old “myth…
Greg’s Response to Driscoll’s “Is God a Pacifist” Part III
This is the last of a three-part response to Mark Driscoll’s post, “Is God a Pacifist?” We’ve seen that, to prove that Jesus was not “a pansy or a pacifist” (meaning that Jesus was okay with justified killing), Mark Driscoll skips over what Jesus actually taught and modeled in the Gospels and instead appeals to…
Unpacking Revelation: Is it Literal?
According to many scholars as well as many Christian laypeople, the Jesus we find in the book of Revelation engages in a great deal of violence. This violence reaches a zenith in chapter 19 where we find Jesus going out to make war on a white horse (v. 11). He is dressed in a blood…
Revolting Against Judgment
A few years ago, I committed to blessing all people at all times. (See yesterday’s post for more about this.) The first thing I noticed was how many “non-blessing” thoughts I had about people. I wasn’t very aware of it before, but my brain often created a running commentary on the people I observed or…