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.
Nations and Violence
In this video by The Work of the People, Greg shares why there is no such thing as a Christian nation. Nations are not the kind of things that turn the other cheek, love their enemies, or lay down their sword as Jesus commanded. They exist because they use the sword. Nations and violence go hand in hand. Our hope is not found in nations finally getting it. Our hope is found in Christ and his kingdom alone.
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Nationalism, The Sword, The Work of the People, Violence
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Related Reading
Jesus and Nationalistic Violence
Throughout the Old Testament, we find Israel spoken of as God’s “chosen nation.” The Israelites were to be a nation of priests whom God wanted to use to unite the world under him (Ex 19:6). Since nationalism and violence inevitably go hand in hand, as Jacque Ellul and others have noted, the covenant God made…
The Magi and an Arbitrary Massacre
On a cool fall night in Bethlehem, late in the 34th year of the reign of king Herod, a peasant family of five sleeps quietly in a one room shanty at the edge of town. They are startled awake as two Roman guards burst through their door shouting something about an edict from a king.…
The Good Samaritan, Non-Violence & Eternal Life
Renaud Camus via Compfight An expert in the law asked Jesus what he had to do “to inherit eternal life” (See the story in Luke 10:25 and following). Jesus asked him what he thought the law said about this issue. The man responded, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all…
The Phinehas vs. Jesus Conundrum
I’ll be frank. This is not a blog that will be easy for some people to read. But it’s a blog I believe every follower of Jesus should read – even if you have to force yourself to press on. It’s about something we all wish was not true. It’s about the way the Bible…
Getting Behind the “Letter” of Violent Portraits of God
“I will do to you what I have never done before… in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents…” Ezek. 5:9-10 In my previous post I offered a brief review of Matthew Bates’ fascinating work, The Hermeneutics of the Apostolic Proclamation by Matthew Bates (Baylor University Press, 2012). Among other…
Lighten Up: America is NOT the Kingdom of God
For some thoughts from Greg on the 4th of July and the Kingdom of God, see The Birth of Two Kingdoms: A Fourth of July Reflection. And now for one of the most ridiculous examples of confusing the Kingdom of God with America. This would be…