All war is sin
by David S. Young
Excerpted from Study War No More (Brethren Press, 1981)

War is not only a useless effort. War is not just a needless destruction of human life. All war is sin. This is the position that the Church of the Brethren has come to about war. In 1934, the Annual Meeting of the church stated after study of the Scriptures that "we believe that war or any participation in war is wrong and incompatible with the spirit, example and teachings of Jesus Christ." This holds for all war, in any age, without exception. And it is the coming of the Son of God who has inspired the teaching of another way to live. Jesus the Christ calls us to an alternative way, different from our usual pattern of making war in order to gain or keep peace.

Let us look first of all at the man of Galilee who came upon this earth with a mission and as a model for God's way. Secondly, let us see where Jesus vigorously taught against the use of violence to solve problems. Finally, let us look at how this Man of Galilee has called us to live by conscience as followers of a way of life. In all this we will see why the Church of the Brethren, along with many other followers, concludes "All war is sin."

EVERYBODY WANTS A FRIEND

Everybody wants a friend. It's just as true when we're young as when we're old. In a friend we find a companion when we are alone; we find one who accepts us just as we are; and we find someone whose loyalty we can depend on. Friends give us a feeling of belonging, of happiness, of love. There is nothing like a friend.

When God decided to take another step to help this world, it could well be said that he chose to send a very special friend. God sent one who would accept us as we are. But this friend would also challenge us to become the best person we can be. This friend, you see, had and still has a very special mission. Just as some friends introduce us to others they know well, this friend introduces us to God Jesus can help us to know God closely and help us to grow to become like God. This friend can have a very good influence on us.

THE MISSION OF JESUS

Perhaps this is where we can best talk about where peace begins. Jesus had a very special mission; he came as a friend to help people come to a right relationship with God. We call this salvation. In the Old Testament it is called shalom, the Hebrew word meaning whole or complete or at peace. In the New Testament the word frequently used is reconciliation, which means to bring together or make as one. One verse in the Bible says God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. It was God's hope to help people come to know him and to get along with him. It is God's hope for us to come to peace with him, and as we do that we will come to peace with ourselves and each other. Reconciliation is what Christ came to accomplish.

The way Jesus put his purpose into practice shows us the way of peace. Jesus came in a manger, not as a child of royalty. His mother waited in line outside a busy motel to find a place for him to be born. Nobody likes to wait in line, either the cafeteria line or the line behind the ticket office to the football game. Imagine that the Son of God came not as a line hopper, with privilege or status, but as one who actually was turned away when the sign read "No Vacancy." That begins to tell the story of his humble way.

He also had love and concern for people for whom no one had time. We remember the story of how Jesus was in a house and, with the press of the crowd, a sick man could not get in. When friends lowered the man through the roof, Jesus didn't scold them for ruining the roof. Rather, he had compassion and love for the sick man. He not only healed the man but also told him that his sins were forgiven. It is the reconciliation that again is all important.

THE POWER OF LOVE

Jesus used the power of persuasive love to implement his goals. He used his words rather than the sword to persuade. He turned over money tables in the temple rather than hit the people who operated the stands. He took time for children when others would disregard them. Jesus commanded his own men to put away their swords when the Roman guard came even though this cost him his own life. The bold cross speaks of one who used forgiveness in God's attempt to reunite the world.

Many said he was the Son of God. Why? Because he came to help people understand God better. Because he used love, compassion, words of truth, and deeds of service. Indeed, because he acted as people knew God would act. Christ is a friend to each person. As a friend, he can unite us with our Creator. And whereas human friends can let us down, he came as a divine friend who can help us become the person we are meant to be. Peace, then, begins as we discover this Jesus and use him as a model for our lives. He literally lived, talked, and prayed the way of peace.

MACK MODELS MEEKNESS

Christ led the early Brethren to seek an alternative to war. Alexander Mack, founder, discovered anew that the Christian life grows out of a direct relationship to Christ and to following his example. By the early 1700s, the people of Germany had experienced over fifty years of war. Alexander Mack's grandfather lived through the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648 when two Catholic armies moved over the German Palatinate, ruing al its resources. This action was followed by Protestant forces who came and burdened the people for their care.

The treaty of Westphalia that ended this war was short-lived. The Dutch war that followed almost destroyed the area in the 1670s and Alexander's father saw his town burned. Mills were ruined; fields were burned; poverty and hunger set in. The people were demoralized and persons like Mack felt the church did not care about their personal faith. Perhaps it was logical, then, for Alexander Mack to leave what he felt were only outward forms of faith in the Calvinist church. As he thought about what Christ stood for, he felt there must be some alternative to fighting. Mack and his companions had lived with enough killing. They sought to live the way of Christ instead.

THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

Jesus not only was a model for the way of peace, he also taught the way of peace. Jesus gave short sentences to describe the ideal. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God" (Matt. 5:9). Happy are thos who are not only peaceable but work continually to that peace Then Jesus went on to describe how that life is lived. He gave the golden rule in Matthew 7:12: "Whatever you wish people to do to you, do so to them." Indeed, Jesus summed up the whole law in Matthew 22:35-40 by saying that the faithful life entails the complete love for God and unfailing love for neighbor. Peacemaking comes in constructive building of the relationships of faith and life.

Peacemaking is important also when relationships have been torn down. It was in the context of worship that Jesus calls attention to getting things right with the people around you. Jesus instructs, "if you are offering your gift at the altar, and remember that someone has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled with them, and then come and offer your gift" (Matt. 5:23-24).

In Matthew 18, Jesus gives a way of handling differences. He instructed us to go and share with someone if we feel wronged. If that doesn't work take one or two others along and then, if necessary, let the entire church help us get together. When this passage is particularly true for people within the church, the same pattern is often used in solving conflicts at schools and in our communities. A peaceful solution—to gain the friend—is the ultimate solution. An alternative to fighting must be found. Peace is to be gained.

NON-RETALIATION

Perhaps the teaching of Jesus that has most influenced the Brethren is non-retaliation. This comes out of the heart of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. There Jesus is addressing those who were the religious officials of that day who would have been very interested in the finer distinctions of the law. The Master begins, "You have heard it said, ?An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'" (Matt. 5:38). This Old Testament law limited revenge. Restrict your revenge to what is fair, said the Old Testament. "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" (Deut. 19:21).

Jesus called for an even better way. "I say to you. Do not resist one who is evil. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also . . ." (Matt. 5:39). The Jesus way is one of returning love for hate, non-resistance for evil. The person who follows Jesus does not respond in kind, but rather sets a new way of behaving. Jesus called the disciple to this better way. In the Old Testament, the law called people to be holy; in the New Testament, Jesus is calling us to be mature in love.

WHO WINS WHEN WARS WASTE WORLDS?

It takes a lot of courage not to strike back. We often hear the law of the playground used. If she hits you, hit her back. Stand up for yourself. This is the law of getting even. How many fights come about by getting even? Don't we often further antagonize when we get back at someone? Soon it becomes a battle of who is strongest and who will quit first. And who wins anyway?

What nerve and wisdom it must take not to slug back or use violent means when we are hurt or wronged. But it is by turning our cheek, by refusing to react in the same manner, that the way of peace begins. By swallowing pride and insult, we begin the process of communicating that which must occur anyway in the end. Turning our cheek is a very active, constructive way to build peace in our world. It is mature. Our behavior is directed by our beliefs rather than what others do to us. We must decide before the situation arises how we will handle conflict so that human emotions do not overtake the moment.

What is done on a personal level is also a command for the way nations should treat nations. In the same Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continued, "You have heard it was said, ?you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love you enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . ." We don't know any law that permits hatred in the Old Testament. Jesus wanted to counter the popular way of viewing the enemy. His teaching calls us to pray for those who make life difficult for us. The Christian way is to give active love in return for hatred.

Perhaps the summary sentence of Jesus sets the goal well. "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). The teaching is to pattern our life after the way of God. This is a call to a mature way of life. It is a call to a courageous way of life. Indeed each individual will be challenged to live by principles that are high ideals for whatever living circumstances one is in.

SHAPING A CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE

Besides the model of Jesus' life which conveys his mission and besides the direct teachings of Jesus on peace, we also have the call of conscience within the life of the individual Christian that puts the decision of peace before each person. By Christian conscience we mean the inner voice that speaks to us as we sensitize ourselves to what we understand to be the will of God. The statement of the Church of the Brethren on war says the church "accepts the entire New Testament as its rule of faith and practice and seeks to lead its members to comprehend and accept for themselves the mind of Christ as a guide for their convictions and conduct." So the church believes not only that all war is sin, but we also seek the right of Christian conscientious objection to all war.

When we say we are Christian conscientious objectors to war we mean that we have taken the life and teachings of Jesus and have let them speak to us. We feel we are being led to a position that is guided by faith. To follow conscience means to have heard the teachings of Paul who instructed the Romans not to do what everyone else did but to be guided by a sense of the will of God. "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God. What is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:2). Whereas we can see others making different choices than our own, we seek to live by what we feel is the will of God for our own life.

Some people say that peacemaking won't work. It is difficult to believe that if you turn the other cheek the enemy won't slug you again. "Stick up for yourself" is a generally agreed upon rule. We hear "No one else will stick up for you." It is by conscience that we will need to meet both those arguments. Whether it will work is an important question. But a more important question is, "What is right?" It will be by conscience that we will get the courage to meet the situations where we may be slugged back. In fact, conscience becomes that guiding force that leads us through life. Seeking the mind of Christ in each circumstance distinguishes us as followers of Christ's way.

ALL WAR IS SIN

All war is sin. Fighting stands in contradiction to the model Jesus lived with the mission he was on; fighting stands in contradiction to the teachings of Christ in the Gospel for the way of life that is fulfilling. Increasingly persons of conscience are saying that fighting stands in contradition to what is right. The way of peace finally trusts in God to bring his world together in his way.

It all becomes very personal, then. We are deciding the ideal by which to live our lives in very practical situations. We believe all war is sin. Peacemaking is a positive, constructive use of one's life. It calls for a use of one's life that builds toward the unity we know God intends.

The final purpose of our teachings on peace is well stated in the Annual Conference statement, "We seek thereby to lead individuals into such intimate contact with Jesus Christ, our Lord, that they will commit themselves to him and to the manner of life which he taught and exemplified." We are each invited by the Master to follow him.

FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. With the aid of a concordance, make a list of passages in the Bible that deal with peace. You may discover some that do not sound as "peaceful" as others. Although our understanding of Jesus is based on the total picture, not individual passages, how do you explain the presence of the less peaceful passages?
   
   
2. The motto of the Strategic Air Command is "Peace Is Our Profession." The Brethren declare "All war is sin." Do these two agree in their goals? In their methods? What problems and differences do you see between these two groups?
   
   
3. What role does anger have in the life of a Christian? When is it all right to be angry? What do you do when you are angry?

Copyright © 1981 by Brethren Press. Excerpted from Study War No More, by David S. Young.