Please make note that the following entry is a reflection of the many thoughts and challenges that I took away from this book. I, by no means, am suggesting that Yoder's position is the correct one and all other positions are sinful. I, myself, do not adhere totally to Yoder's position, but he does offer some thoughts that are worth thinking about.What would you do if you were watching a loved one being attacked and you had a loaded gun in your hand? What would you do if someone broke into your house late at night and you had a loaded gun ready and available on your night stand? These are type of hypothetical situations that are discussed in this book. It is a short read and although I don't agree with all the thoughts and theories, I believe it will challenge your mind and I hope it will challenge your faith as well.
My wife and I are involved in small group bible study at our church. We had finished our curriculum a few weeks early; thus, our group decided we would watch a movie together one week and have a bible study pertaining to the movie the next week. We watched the fabulous movie called "End of the Spear," which is a true story about a group of men who gave their lives in effort to bring the gospel message to a very very violent indigenous tribe, known as the Waodoni. Toward the beginning of the movie, after being asked by his son if he would shoot the Waodani if they attacked, one man stated, "We can't shoot the Waodani. The Waodani aren't ready for heaven, we are." He was one of 5 men who was murdered that day by the Waodani tribe. They fired the weapons in the air to try to scare the tribesmen, but they never fired upon them. You'll have to watch the movie to get the rest of the story, but needless to say, the sacrifice of those 5 lives payed off in the end.
What I took away from Yoder's book is that we need to have the mentality of the man in this movie in every situation. God commands us to love our enemies (Luke 6:27-28). God doesn't say to love our enemies, but not if they are threatening your life or the life of a loved one. God doesn't say to love your enemies, but love your Christian brother more. He simply says to love your enemies. BUT, loving our enemies doesn't mean to do nothing in the face of evil. We need to be proactive. The problem is that when we run these hypothetical situations through our brains, we often conclude that "I will kill if I have to." Thus, if something like an attack upon a loved one did occur, we have already narrowed our options down to (1) kill or (2) be killed. Jesus teaches and demonstrates that there are always more options. When faced with life-threatened situations, Jesus didn't call down fire from heaven to eliminate the threat. He took a risk, like in the story of the woman caught in adultery, when he said "He who has not sinned cast the first stone" (see John 8:2-11). Boy....I wonder what was going through that woman's head. I mean, in a way, Jesus just gave those people permission to stone her to death. It was a risk; but it was worth taking in order to try to make a difference, and it did. Yoder puts forth the notion that we need to be convicted to not use physical violence as a means for defense so that our minds are allowed to explore other possibilities. So we can try to determine what will be the difference that will make the biggest difference. However, I, like many of you, don't know if my faith is strong enough to take that kind of risk; but, I am not yet convinced that we are expected to think and behave in such a way when lives are being threatened. I don't think any of us can say without a doubt what we would do in any given situation; however, my hope is that we are convicted enough and have a strong enough faith to act as Christ would have wanted us to. Here's some lingering questions that I do not have the answers to: In a life-threatening situation, can Christ instinctively be your best defense and/or offense? Can you have a mind of evangelism in any and all situations? Can you remember that your "enemies" might not be ready for heaven yet?
This is a controversial topic, I know, especially when you consider Romans 13 (Dr. Chip Kooi offers some theological knowlege regarding Romans 13 on his blog - http://cosmictherapy.blogspot.com/2008/02/pacifism-and-romans-13.html) but it is one that I think needs to be thought about and pondered over by all of us. I do not consider myself a pacifist by no means. In a crisis situation, I still think I would choose to protect my heavenbound family for several different reasons (many of which I consider divine/biblical) rather than protect the assumed lost one who is posing the threat. Even though this book didn't convert me to pacifism, I still think I benefitted from the challenging thoughts within it. I'd recommend that all Christians read it because you will develop a stronger stance, whether it changes or stays the same.
Note: The title of this entry links you to this book on amazon.com.
