Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Help! I’m peace loving and don’t WANT to fight wars for Jesus

Help! I’m peace loving and don’t WANT to fight wars for Jesus

Last updated on: April 19, 2017 at 9:08 am by Christy Thomas

Help! I’m peace loving and don’t WANT to fight wars for Jesus 2017-04-19T09:08:21-05:00 Christy Thomas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Did Jesus finish the work of defeating evil or did he not finish the work and therefore we must go to battles and wars for him?

I don't want to be a solder of the cross and go to war

Photo credit: Franckfbe via VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC

Dear Thoughtful Pastor: There is a hymn called “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” It speaks of Christians as soldiers of the cross, marching as to war against what would seem to be some tremendous foes.

These soldiers are stridently urged into battle so the royal banner of Jesus will not “suffer loss.”

They wear armor and believe that every foe must be vanquished so Christ can be Lord indeed.

This hymn disturbs me. I thought Jesus was Lord from the outset, and not as a result of people doing battle for him, but as a result of his doing battle for them. He defied evil attempts to seduce him into sin and went to hell and back to secure our souls. Surely we as Christians can’t know more about fighting enemies than he does.

I am more of an “Amazing Grace” or a “Morning Has Broken” type of person. Is it alright if I don’t want to be a soldier?

The short answer is “Yes, of course, it is all right.”

The longer answer needs to take into consideration the reasons behind the war-like language and actions that have long permeated Christian thinking.

If we work off only the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels, warlike desires and actions for Jesus-followers face a big disconnect between the text demanding we love our enemies and actions that kill our enemies.

However, there is much more to the Bible than the kingdom of heaven world taught and modeled by Jesus. Let us also be clear: Jesus’ teaching and modeling the idea of loving enemies did not stop those very enemies from torturing and killing him.

Violence and wars are all over the Bible

Violent texts bookend the Gospels. Early writings like Judges, Kings and Chronicles and later books, particularly the apocalyptic book of The Revelation of John, swim in bloodshed, destruction, murder, and mayhem.

In these, we read of an angry, vengeful God. Such depictions do, for many, justify anger, wars and vengeance, all for the sake of defending that God.

The question in a nutshell: Did Jesus finish the work of defeating evil or did he not finish the work and therefore we must go to battles and wars for him?

Here’s my take: Jesus did finish it. His work was done. We need not defend Jesus’ honor. Not our responsibility, not our problem.

However . . . and there always is a “however,” evil thoughts and actions still surround us.

Definition of evil

My definition of evil: the lust for power over others, the willingness to treat the entire world as an object created to meet our self-centered needs, and the wanton disregard of future effects for present actions.

Evil, understood this way, consistently and without qualms seeks advantage over the weak and undefended. Anything weak and undefended has, in the utter selfishness of an evil-based system, no intrinsic value other than being used to satisfy our desires.

Now Jesus-followers have an obligation to stand up to oppression and evil in whatever forms it takes. That may mean going into battle.

The human capacity for self-deception

But it is a very fine line that separates fighting against the evil that oppresses others and fighting for our power and increasing greatness.

We humans easily convince ourselves that we operate only from the best of motives. Others, especially those we define as the enemy, operate only from the worst of motives. With this sub-conscious self-deception often informing our decisions, our “best motives” quickly morph into the very evil we insist we fight against.

Again, I think you are right. Jesus has done the eternal work and won that battle. Keep in mind that, though, that Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of heaven stand against the norms of observed nature, against the cruelty of the survival of the fittest society. He taught with solid knowledge that the people of God long to live outside those violent, “kill to live” norms.

The real shalom

The prophet Isaiah wrote these hopes of peace among us:

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child has put his hand on the adder’s den. (Isaiah 11:6-8, NRSV).

Can you see it? These words describe the real peace, the shalom, the maturity, the final perfection, of all creation. No longer do the strong and powerful destroy the weaker and more vulnerable.

But human societies have not come close to that ideal. And until that happens, we need to stand up and fight evil and oppression, not hurt others to defend Jesus. This distinction continues to matter.

As for you, just don’t sing those hymns. Sometimes, they are full of bad theology.

[Note: A version of this column is slated to run in the April 21, 2017, edition of the Denton Record-Chronicle. The Thoughtful Pastor, AKA Christy Thomas, welcomes all questions for the column. Although the questioner will not be identified, I do need a name and verifiable contact information in case the newspaper editor has need of it. You may use this link to email questions.]

Previous Post

April 17, 2017

Dear President Trump: You work for me and I care about your tax returns

Next Post

April 19, 2017 Sexist pastors, sexist news commentators: losses and wins

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category " obedience abortion accommodation accountability administration adolescence Advent advice an ordinary death anxiety apology apportionments Ash Wednesday ask thoughtfulpastor baptism betrayal Bible bondage calling certainty change character charity children Christianity Christmas church church as garden clergy clergy credentials closure comfort compassion competition compromise Confirmation conservation conservative conspiracy theories consumer conversion coronavirua corruption courage covenant cultural context death Deconstruction discipleship discord divorce doctrine doing good drugs dysfunctional Easter Easter; Resurrection education election entertainment envy escape evaluation evil exclusive church exercise faith faithfulness family fasting fear feast featured film review finances first world problem food forgiveness fundamentalist garden gay marriage General Conference generosity giving thanks GLBT glory good government grace guilt habit happy harmony hateful acts healing health health care heaven hell hello/goodbye heresy hidden agenda holiness homelessness homosexuality humility hymn hypocrisy Imago Dei In training inclusive church indulgence injustice innocents insurance intolerance itinerancy joy Justice kindness Kingdom of Heave kingdom of heaven language laughter laundry lawsuit leadership Lent LGBTQ liberal life Little Things Matter longform meandering thoughts memories mercy metaphor metrics miracle misfortunes morality Mormon Muslim mystery worship natural disasters New Category Name nutrients older adults oppression pain Paleo paperwork partnered pastor peace pension pharmaceutical placebo politics poverty prayer privilege public schools questions quiet racism rain reason reconciliation religion repentance requirements rescue respect rest resurrection retirement Sabbath sacrament sacred salvation same-sex marriage sanctuary schism schooling science SCOTUS secrecy separation of church and state sexism sexuality short cuts silence sin sleep soil spiritual journey stillness suffering surgery sustainable church teacher technology thank you theology therapy thinking tolerance TOS trust truth Uncategorized welcome Why Easter? wisdom women worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 March 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 October 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz