Violence

I feel like I've been bumping into the theme of violence in a lot of different places lately - blogs, books, music, and preaching.  Seems to be a hot issue, too.  I first really started thinking about it when I picked up a copy of Derek Webb's latest solo album, The Ringing Bell.  Much of the content of the record centers around the idea that violence is our natural tendency - that it's the easiest path to walk down - but that Jesus wasn't joking around when he stressed the need to love our enemies regardless of who they are.  I've also heard some sermons lately touching on the "Blessed are the Peacemakers" section of the Sermon on the Mount.  

Then just last night I was reading in a book by the brilliant N.T. Wright, who was saying how even the Jewish mindset of the coming Messiah was fundamentally linked to the expectation of violence.  One of the primary assumptions about the Christ was that he was to immediately deliver Israel from their hostile neighbors, once and for all, through a violent and bloody war waged on their behalf.  When Jesus came on the scene, he found himself among a people who were ready for a fight - ready to be fought for.  How greatly ironic then for Jesus to bring a message of peace - a message that Israel was in fact called to love her enemies, turn the other cheek, and lay down her life.  And if his words weren't enough to cause a stir, Jesus then practices what he preaches and gives his life on a cross, blowing every expectation of how the Messiah would do things.  He rebukes Peter for using violence to fight against the cup of His Father (as he cuts off the guard's ear in the garden) and warns him of the dangers of living by the sword.  Rather than kill, Jesus lets himself be killed.  

There's something powerful in the contrast between violence and meekness.  Something about taking the bullet if it's the only way to avoid fighting sin with sin.  Something about the backward ways of Kingdom-living that aren't always successful, but are always faithful.

I think the desire for violence is something that wears many masks in our day, and because it has so many sophisticated disguises (including church language), it goes unnoticed and unacknowledged more often than not.  I wonder if my desires for things like "divine justice" and "righteous judgement" also have cravings for good old fashioned violence mixed in.

There are no easy answers with this subject, but I think that a lot of us could use a bit of a reminder that the peacemakers are indeed blessed, and that self-sacrificing meekness is still the way of the cross.