by Blair Pettyjohn
I was once at a friend’s house when she introduced me to a man who was helping her with household repairs. I still remember the kind and gentle spirit of this man; I don’t know many people who have made a better first impression on me. When I was leaving, I noticed his pick-up truck had a bumper sticker that promoted gun ownership. While I disagreed with the bumper sticker, I didn’t judge him. I remember thinking that I could see how a nice, gentle soul like this would want something strong to back him up.
One of the major reasons we want to hold on to the gun option is to protect that which is precious to us, whether it be our sense of dignity and self-respect, the physical safety of loved ones and ourselves, or something else precious to us, such as the land where we live. I felt compassion for this man and all who want to feel protected. I, too, feel protective since my daughter Sarah was born and since recent stories of tragic violence. So I get it. I am not naive. Hoping and dreaming for a nonviolent world, and wanting to be nonviolent in the process of creating such a world, can sound like a pipe dream.
Refusing to use violence hasn’t even been consistent in our Christian history. There are great people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who started off pacifist but ended up participating in a plot of violence against Adolph Hitler to stop what he saw as a greater violence. I’ve had conversations with others connected to The Church of the Saviour who have used Dietrich Bonhoeffer to justify why they aren’t pacifist. I agree, there is no way to deny the horrendous evil of Nazi Germany, so I can see why people might go to violence as a last resort in certain situations.
But then there’s Jesus. Jesus, who lived totally with unconditional love. As great a man as Dietrich Bonhoeffer was, we don’t follow him; we follow Jesus. Choosing to participate in an assassination plot was not what Jesus would have done. If Jesus had killed, or participated in a plot to kill, the good news he taught us and showed us would not be the same. It would be tainted and would not have shown us the true nature of God’s Love. Jesus had a different bottom line than most of us. Jesus did not guarantee physical safety. The Romans were persecuting the Jewish people and Jesus was not a “good guy with a gun” (or sword) sent to protect them. He would not be that kind of messiah. Jesus’ bottom line was, and still is, to show us the unwavering nature of God’s unconditional, nonviolent love. What does this mean for followers of Christ responding to the violence in our world?
Jesus showed us two fundamental principles that can help us love others as God intends. First, Jesus saw all human beings as sacred, including the most wretched—criminals, terrorists, dictators, molesters. Our world tends to categorize people from a very young age as either winners (good guys), or losers (bad guys). The losers get treated poorly, sometimes even to the point of seeing them as no longer a part of the human family. To Jesus, everyone was a brother and a sister, deeply loved. In the kingdom of God that Jesus showed us, we are each an indispensable and precious member of the family. Once we begin to see and love everyone the way Jesus showed us, seeing all people as sacred the way Jesus did, the way we respond to violence will change.
A second necessary principle of Jesus’ love that follows from the first is a willingness to die for others, but never to kill. Gandhi put it this way: “Just as one must learn the art of killing in the training for violence, so one must learn the art of dying in the training for nonviolence.” He also said that he was prepared to die for his cause, but there was no cause for which he was prepared to kill. Even though Gandhi was not Christian, he recognized Jesus as the greatest practitioner of nonviolence who had ever lived.
Anyone who follows the nonviolent way of Jesus will be willing to take a bullet, but unwilling to shoot one. For followers of Christ the last resort is not a gun, but rather to give our lives for others. This doesn’t mean to be reckless with our lives, or to have a death wish or a martyr complex, but to be willing to walk Jesus’ way of the cross if we are called to do so.
I believe we are called to go to great lengths to love everyone and to prevent violence in ways consistent with the nonviolent way of Jesus, even to the point of being willing to die. I can’t think of a bolder way to follow Jesus than to give up our dependence on gun protection, individually as well as societally. Nonviolence is the way of unconditional love; it is the way God intended for us to live, to be a nonviolent presence in the midst of a violent world. If enough of us were inspired to be a nonviolent presence in the way of Jesus, God’s kingdom would come on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Blair Pettyjohn is a singer/songwriter who has connected to The Church of the Saviour community for over 20 years. His primary calling is to help spread the love and nonviolence of Jesus through his music, preaching and writing. Learn more about Blair and his recent CD called Conscientious Objector.
