Luke Parrott

When All Else Fails...Still Follow in the Way of Jesus.

When you look at the Sermon on the Mount as instructions from Jesus that we must put into practice, (rather than just a condition or disposition of our hearts), you realize that Jesus did not justify any sort of violence.

We tend to glorify redemptive violence in America (as was well observed by my housemate Drew).  We justify Maximus' vengeful ways as a gladiator in order to get back at the emperor for killing his family.  We love the war path of William Wallace in Braveheart because we buy into the lie that "those people deserve to die". 

St. Augustine drew up the first "Christian" response to justifying war in his efforts to allow the state to maintain Christianity as the adopted religion.  Everyone had a problem with how the state would defend itself if it truly adopted the non violence of Christianity, and so concessions had to be made.  The "just war" theory was born.

The reality is that you can not escape the glaring notions of non-violence that Jesus prescribes to his new community.  And even in the face of the darkest of evils, Jesus stood in the gap and accepted the consequences.  He was not a pacifist and he was certainly not a zealot.  He stood up to the Roman government and calmly gave himself to die.  Even his disciples tried to resist with the sword (Peter cut the ear off a soldier...clearly no one had taught the man how to wield a sword!), but Jesus rebuked his friend for this act. 

In the face of a monstrous evil, redemptive violence can not be justified.  As Bonhoeffer well observed, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."  And when all other peaceful arrangements can not be made to put a spoke in the wheel of an evil regime, it may just be time to lay yourself down for the love of another.

That is when Jesus' call to take up the cross gets uncomfortable.  But it is also when we most identify ourselves with the one whom we follow. 

For 450 Christians a day, this call is placed on their lives.  And they follow through.  While we live in a country that finds it difficult to fathom persecution by the sword, we must ask ourselves, if we were to be confronted with such a monster, would we lay our lives down for the love of God and the love of our neighbor (who may in this case front himself as an enemy)?

Gut check, isn't it?

For further meditation see Matthew 5:38-41,43-48; Luke 6:27; Mark 12:29-31; Philippians 3:10

Can a Christian Kill a Hitler?

"Would you grant absolution to the murder of a tyrant?"  --Dietrich Bonhoeffer

That's the question Bonhoeffer wrestled with in Germany as he saw the rising Nazis Regime come to power under the rule of Hitler.  The darker the regime became, the deeper he wrestled with what to do. 

He was well aware of the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.  He knew violence was not the answer.  He also knew the Christian is called to step in and act in the face of evil.  To defend the cause of the powerless.  To love his enemies.  To be engaged in matters of injustice.

What was he to do?

If you know his story, you know that he decided to join in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler.  He was steeply involved in the process, even acting as a double agent.  He would leave the country to gain intelligence for the regime, but in actuality, he was trying to let others in on the conspiracy.

Ultimately, he was responsible among others for 2 attempts on the life of Adolf Hitler.  Both of course failed.  In the second attempt evidence was discovered that implicated Bonhoeffer.  The Gestapo arrested him and within 2 years, he was executed in a concentration camp.

The question today is, "How should a Christian respond to monstrous evils?"  What can we do when a tyrant goes on a killing spree?  When an oppressive government spearheads genocide?

Where is the Jesus Follower in all of this?

How Should Christians Respond to Evil and Senseless Suffering?

I'm glad my friend Andy wrote on evil today because I'm really wrestling with this one right now.  See his blog post titled  Evil in the World...Again!

Why is the church so hesitant to move forward in these initiatives?  It seems like we meet these challenges with great skepticism, afraid to act boldly and lead the charge to alleviate suffering.

I see a further hesitation to our response regarding deeper evils.  What does a United States citizen who follows Jesus do about the evils being committed by the Sudanese Gov't?  What is our role in the Darfur genocide?

I've been reading "Not on Our Watch", a book about what average Americans can do.  We can use divestment strategies.  We can petition our elected officials.  Write the president.  Write our senator.  Raise awareness on blogs and at rallies.

But in the same breath, I feel a hesitation from Christians to engage their government in such manners.  We say things like, "it's not up to our government to bring about the work of Christ".  Or "it's our role to move in as the body of Christ and take action ourselves."  Others think we should not engage in such activity as it is an evil world and we just need to keep "preaching the gospel". 

Perhaps you have some thoughts to help me along in the process.

How does the Christian respond to the dark face of evil?  What is my role in this suffering world?  What does the Christian do in the face of a Hitler?  How do I respond to the sufferings and displacement of millions in Darfur? 

The Christian needs to be a voice here.  As Elie Wiesel says, "Silence helps the killer, never the victim."

Someone speak up!

The Persistance of Evil

I turned on the news today and the more I heard the more depressed I became. A struggling economy, a federal government bailout, Russia's involvement with Venezuela, the gap of the rich and poor in South Africa, storms building in the caribbean...

Sometimes I just want to say, "God, how long will you wait till all things are made new? Can't you show yourself a little sooner, a little clearer?" My spirit just groans and I feel like Paul in Romans who longed for the redemption of his body and his adoption to be made complete (Romans 8:23).

The hardest thing about laboring in His Kingdom is that it is only accomplished in part while we await His return. The day we seem to find God's will being done on earth, we wake up the next day to another horror. South Africa experiences great healing and reconciliation from their apartheid only to face great political unrest and a mighty gap between the rich and poor. Rwanda genocide ends and we cry out "Never Again!" only to see Darfur replay that history. A hurricane ravages the coast. Where one war ends another begins. Where one heart softens another is hardened. Both evil and good grow together. Kind of like the parable of the wheat and weeds. Both are permitted to grow together until the harvest time. (Matthew 13:30)

It gets exhausting to see God's work break through only in part. It is a work that needs completion. And it cannot be fully accomplished by God's children alone. We need our King to return.

But we cling to hope.

"Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed...

"...in all things God works for the good..."

He is reaching into an evil world, the world humanity chose to create, and he is somehow turning our bad and ugly into his good and beautiful.

I pray again today..."Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Come soon, my King!"

In the meantime, there is no greater business that I could apply myself to. Let us all press on even as evil persists. Because there is also a persistance of his Kingdom. And this persistance will prevail.