Musings on Jesus’s call to prioritize love for the other over violence towards the other, and how that relates to violence and nonviolence in the world today.
When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. – Luke 22:49-51
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” – Matthew 26:52
The crowd pulsed, a hundred people behind my arms, 20-30 of them trying to push forward with sticks and other weapons. Opposite us another 15-20 men advanced on the mob, some of them wielding weapons of their own. Belt blows from the front rained down on my arms and shoulders, and someone’s elbow or fist …
Let's enter this topic by way of a story. I'm sitting at my friend's shop eating a snack when we hear a fight break out. I turn to see a young teenager being held back by a crowd. He is trying to get into trouble with an adult man who I can't quite see. The …
Most of the stories I have written here happened years ago. This one was yesterday. I was walking through one neighborhood where I teach when I heard the thump of blows. I paused, discerned sobbing. Peered around the window of the home it was coming from, but could see nothing. The blows continued. Someone was …
Since my first Bible study I've always wanted to be decisive in interpreting Scripture. I want to understand what I'm reading, make a decision, and live it. Especially on practical matters. But there was one issue where a firm decision eluded me for a long time. That was the question of an absolute commitment to …
Continue reading How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Powerlessness
Peregrine and I were walking home when we saw a motorcycle almost collide with a guy on a bicycle cart/rickshaw. No one was hurt, though the motorcycle guy had to hit the brakes hard to avoid a collision. He mouthed off to the bicycle guy (who was obviously poorer than him and much smaller than …
My good friend Rachel (who has sadly since passed) used to run a ministry that built bridges between impoverished inner-city Los Angeles and the surrounding suburbia.1 She desired to help students learn and experience more about the city and its people who lived right next door to them. I occasionally brought Sunday school groups to …
It was summer 2004, during my first trip overseas. Two friends1 and I were taking a shortcut through a park. Some distance away we saw a man knock a woman to the ground. The man then proceeded to kick the woman, hard, as she cried out. The three of us were pretty "activist", so we ran into …
“Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”1 Option #1: Taking life for life is still necessary to prevent even greater violence. Option #2: The death penalty was only one stage in our history, towards a better world God wants for us. Do we kill …
A post by Peregrine As I was walking on a city street I saw a fight in progress. One man grabbed a long stick and chased another man to beat him. A third came in and also took a stick and started to beat the victim. My first thought was “Stranger uses his size to …
I was twenty years old, a young Christian, waiting to meet my friends in a Portland mall. Four women rushing up to a fellow teenager didn’t trigger “fight!” in my head, even in a spot known for occasional gang violence. "Maybe they’re running up to greet someone?" passed through my mind... When the punching started …
