As I’ve written before, I am convinced that were He alive today, Jesus would befriend, pray for, and minister to the most marginalized and hated elements of our society — just as He did in His own time. Then it was tax collectors and prostitutes; it’s perhaps noteworthy that these two groups were the ones the average Jew who came in contact with Jesus would have condemned over politics and sexual immorality. Now it would probably be terrorists and the LGBTQ community…politics and sex once again.
Jesus chose to love, serve and die for his enemies rather than engage in “justified” violence against them. He chose to be killed rather than to kill. Followers of Jesus are called to mimic this attitude and behavior towards their enemies (1 Pet 2:18-23; 3:15-16; Heb. 12:2-3). Moreover, Jesus (and the rest of the New Testament) consistently taught that we are to love, bless, pray for and do good to our enemies (Mt.5:44-45; Lk 6:27-36). We’re to never retaliate or use violence in self-defense (e.g. Matt 5:38-39; Rom. 12:17-21; I Thess.5:15; I Pet 3:9 ). No where in the New Testament is this example or these teachings about non-violence ever qualified. No where do we find any exceptions to the commands to love and do good to our enemies.
I’m not a huge fan of the term “pacifism” because of all its baggage — and even without the baggage, I’m not sure it would accurately describe my thoughts on war from either a libertarian or Christian perspective. But I can be very certain that the Jesus of the New Testament calls us to be peacemakers.
(Poster available here)
Truth.
(Source: hipsterlibertarian)
