J. Denny Weaver on becoming a peacemaker like Jesus:
"The ultimate reason for the church to develop nonviolent peacemaking is that it is Christian, it is central to the story of Jesus Christ. We confess Jesus as “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). We are his disciples. Jesus came to introduce the peaceable reign of God in our history. Our calling as his disciples is to do likewise.
The resurrection of Jesus established the reign of God. We participate in and witness to that victory over evil by living within the story of Jesus, the victorious Lamb. “They have conquered [the accuser] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev. 12.11). Our lived testimony makes visible today the peaceable reign of God triumphing over evil in the resurrection of Jesus. Nonviolent peacemaking is central to our calling as Christians."
MY THOUGHTS:
How will the world know or experience the "peaceable reign of God" unless it is visibly modeled by the people of God? Can we expect that the world will be a peaceful place if the world does not have a model of what harmonious relationships might look like?
Is living as a nonviolent expression of God's kingdom harder to "embody", or live out, than allowing ourselves to live out of a violent narrative?
3 comments:
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Have you ever read Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed by Philip Hallie? We read it in an "Ethics of Hospitality" class in seminary and it is an excellent story about non-violence and a small Protestant village in Southern France who gave shelter to Jews during WW2.
no i haven't. i'll have to check that out. was it the taize community? cause they have a similar story.
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