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Is There Ever an Exception to the Peace Testimony?
Kimberly Anne Makela and Francis Clare Fischer |
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“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Psalms 119:9-11 We have both been devout Christian pacifists all of our adult lives. However, being consistent on the Peace Testimony is not an easy subject to navigate. Absolutism becomes difficult when our students and children ask us, “But what about World War II, if the Americans and Russians had not entered the war Hitler may well have won. Don’t you think that was right for us to enter the war?” Like most Quakers we have with this issue; the struggle making it all the more clear that we need guidance from the Lord and from our Quaker tradition as we approach this issue. In their 1660 Declaration written to King Charles II of England, George Fox and others wrote: We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fighting with outward weapons for any end or under any pretense whatsoever; this is our testimony to the whole world . . . . The Spirit of Christ by which we are guided is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing of evil and again to move us into it; and we certainly know and testify to the world that the Spirit of Christ which leads us into all truth will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the Kingdom of Christ nor for the kingdoms of this world. . . therefore we cannot learn war anymore. Those Friends' words are very clear in this statement, which can leave no doubt as to the depth of their absolute commitment to the principle of Christ-like peace. But their words would not have borne such gravity had they not been based on scriptural principals and the clear direction Christ Jesus gave his followers: "Put up thy sword again into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Matthew 26:52 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27 "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9 Do any of these teachings leave room for compromise as we live the Peace Testimony? The writers have always felt that as Christians, our trust must utterly depend on God. Could there be anything that happens in this world that God does not allow? Even the wiles of the Devil are subject to the Lord. So the Lord allows us to stray from His way and He allows us to face the consequences of our sins. Mankind proves over and over again that living outside of moral law, as defined by God, and insisting on self-government in such a way as to deny God's sovereignty, have always been the reason and the only reason for suffering and violence in this world. Ephesians clarifies this for us in chapter 4 verse 18: “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” When we are called by Christ, we are called to live in peace, advocate for peace and peacefully, trustfully rely on the fact that God has everything under control. To do otherwise denies His sovereignty just as much as those who participate in wars and strife in an admitted state of godlessness. But note that God has always called His people to action. If we are living the Peace Testimony that we find affirmed in scripture we are being asked to work for God’s world. That may mean non-violent social action; it may mean a devoted and contemplative life or prayer for the entire world, or both. But God calls us to be peaceful, not to be passive. He calls us to work for His goodness, justice and peace by living peace, acting for peace, praying for peace; and we would contend that it is clear, we are never called to take up a weapon. It is certainly impossible not to feel emotionally charged and enraged by the myriad gross injustices and horrific crimes that make up the history of mankind; but taking up weapons to fight against a world, not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, is not only absolutely futile, it makes one no better than those initiating those crimes in the first place. We lose our precious place as honorable ambassadors of peace, with no further right to lay claim to the righteousness of peace, if our actions contradict our words. In times of despair where godlessness seems to prevail, instead of reaching for a gun a true follower of Christ should be compelled to drop to their knees, or even prostrate themselves completely before the Lord and beg, BEG - with the tears and grief of our hearts pouring out, for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven; to cry out for His direction in all our actions. To participate in violence, shows that our interests and trust lie not in God's Heavenly Kingdom. Our actions are in conflict with the Lord’s teachings. He will guide our actions so long as we devote ourselves to His peace and a life lived under His sovereignty. No action, no matter how noble the world views it, will lead to His peace if He is not guiding it. If we turn from Him we are not acting as His workers in the field. How can we possibly do anything beyond what our Lord did? He clearly said, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight. . ." John 18:36. How will we face Him someday and justify taking part in actions that He himself not only refused to take part in but also clearly admonished his followers not to do? Whenever we feel drawn into supporting any war effort in any way, which kingdom are we really fighting for? In Romans we read: "Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Remember, if the word idol can be defined as “A false or misleading idea,” (Reader’s Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary) then war can be as much of an idol as anything else and we must not allow ourselves to be provoked into idolizing or touching the unclean thing . . . what could be more unclean than war or anything that in anyway promotes or participates in it? Satan is very crafty in making the ideals of war seem righteous and justifiable. But listen to what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.
For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or
what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is
there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in
common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the
temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living
God. As God has said: We are as alien residents in this world when we look to the kingdom of God as the only answer to the problems facing mankind. Would Hitler really have won the war without followers of Christ taking up arms? Is such a pretense really worth the compromise of Christian conscience? We may not know if Hitler would have won World War II without American and Russian violence. But we do know that any time a culture is based on violence and turns its back on God that culture will be grounded in violence until they rise above all willingness to take up arms.
All things are as God allows and we prove by our
actions which kingdom we support - how glorious is it really to take
pride in the supposed victory of war when we have violated the
principles of peace as Christ taught in order to claim that glory.
Again, whose Kingdom do we really support? Whose Kingdom do
we wish be part of establishing? So what can we say to our students and children who ask us about the horrors of the Holocaust and of Stalin's twenty million dead? What do we say when they wonder if perhaps, just that one time, violence was justified? We can teach them of the Scriptures, Quaker history, the great men and women of peace throughout time who would not take up a weapon but worked for God’s Kingdom and worked for it as they heard Him bid them act. We can tell them that then and only then will we be following in God’s peace and in the end only here will the world find Peace. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Romans 8:35
. . . neither height nor depth, nor anything else
in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39 |