God's love versus violence

This blog started a few weeks ago in connection to the violence in our world. I started thinking of comparisons and all of a sudden I had a whole page. It grew from there. Unfortunately it's always a relevant topic to discuss. I trust we can find better ways to live alongside each other in this world.

Read through this list slowly to see why the King of all Kings has a very different Kingdom to worldly systems and empires, and why he would not stand with the things that violence brings to us and others. He speaks the opposite. He asks us to turn the other cheek and to lay down the sword. He does not advocate for this. His kingdom is one of love and peace, of justice and righteousness. He would want us to be IN this world where violence operates BUT to live separate to it and bring his kingdom from heaven into this earthly mess and be the ones who reflect his love and mercy and, as a result, his transformation of lives for those who choose to follow him. 

We will not take ourselves, or anyone else, anywhere near any goodness if we follow the way of violence and if we say it's ok for any other person on this earth to experience violence. We need to stand in the gap and advocate for something entirely different, especially if we are going to bear the name of the Prince of Peace. If we don't take this seriously, we will be the very ones that bring destruction and war into this world. His parting words to us were GO into all the world and share my love, my good news, so that more people could join the kingdom of God. He did not say go and hate, kill, steal and destroy and push everyone away from the kingdom. (That job has already been taken by the enemy of our souls!)

People need to rather see the fruit of his Spirit in our lives, of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Just stop a moment and imagine the difference that would bring to our world right now.

GOD’S LOVE	VIOLENCE
It is compassionate	It has no feelings/it hates
It is empathetic	It is indifferent
It builds	It breaks and destroys
It sees us	It is blind and ignorant
It gives life	It takes life/It gives death
It fills us	It leaves us empty
It comforts us	It causes grief and sorrow
It connects us	It breaks connection
It heals	It is harmful, it cuts, hurts and rips
It protects	It is dangerous/it exposes and exploits us
It gives us hope	It causes us to lose hope/feel hopeless
It ignites faith in us	It causes us to lose faith
It is kind and caring	It is nasty and cruel
It gives	It takes/it steals
It brings value to everyone	It devalues
It is safety/It is safe	It robs us of safety/it is toxic
It pursues	It hides and retreats
It humanizes	It dehumanizes
It is front footed	It puts us on a back foot
It illuminates/it is in the light	It is in the dark
It pulls us close	It casts us aside
It tells us we belong	It disposes of us
It is courageous and brave	It brings heartache
It allows us to trust/it is trust	It breeds mistrust
It is freedom and gives us choices	It is power, control and coercion
It is honest and truthful	It is lies, mistrust and suspicion
It puts us back together	It tears us apart/it divides
It includes us	It excludes us
It gives us a voice	It silences us
It is encouraging	It is discouraging
It is purposeful	It is without purpose
It is strong/it is strength	It is weak
It gives us an identity	It tells us we don’t matter
It brings change and transformation	It delivers devastation
It solves problems	It creates bigger problems
It is humble	It is haughty and arrogant
It reconciles	It destroys everything and everyone
It’s good news	It’s the worst kind of bad news
It is honouring	It is abusive
It is empowering	It creates a power imbalance
It disarms	It weaponizes
It is peace	It breeds and multiplies fear
It is just and fair	It is unjust, oppressive and subjugates others
It is patient, cautious and exhibits self-control	It is impulsive and acts too quickly without thinking
It thinks of others	It is self-absorbed and selfish
It is gentle	It is harsh and brutal
It is filled with joy	It brings only despair

 It seems like it would be obvious that these 2 would be polar opposites. It's been an interesting exercise putting them side by side in these 2 columns. We would think no-one would possibly choose violence when you see all the mayhem and destruction it brings. But over and over violence is chosen as the preferred way of dealing with things in our world. Even when it is so totally opposite to anything to do with God's character and the way he operates, especially with the New Covenant.

This next picture is of my hand with the hand of a new friend from a country where violence is very prevalent and from one day to the next she does not know whether today could be her last day. When she was here in my City recently she took a video with many 'heart hands' with various different people. It was very special. It definitely makes me sad that her life could end with the bad choices of other people who are holding little value for the lives of others.

I recently saw a quote by Ghandi that said, 'an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.' (It's an old law we see playing out everyday in multiple ways.)

There are better ways. As followers of Jesus we are called to be peace makers. Making peace has justice as a starting point. Peace will never happen if unfairness persists. It's our choice. The violence in our world will continue without justice as the stepping stone to peace. These are our everyday global choices, in homes, communities and countries.

When we operate according to law only, it feels very much like the Old Testament and the old covenant. But Jesus came to give life and life in abundance. He came to bring freedom. He died for our freedom and he ushered in the new covenant with his death on the cross. When he left, he left us with his Spirit to dwell in us, to help us and guide us. To empower us to live the life of becoming more and more like Jesus. We cannot live the Christian life without the Spirit of God. We also cannot be the ones calling for violence towards others. We cannot advocate for this. We are the ones who should be standing against such actions and not supporting them. Jesus calls us to look out for the vulnerable and marginalised. He certainly did not say it was okay to allow them to experience hurt and harm. God is not the one who has changed his character. He is love and calls us to esteem others as better than ourselves. To treat people the way we would like to be treated. 

It seems we are quite happy to read all these verses in church or our daily devotions, but actually living them is proving to be quite different. When people stand up for the vulnerable, it's often Christians who are shouting the loudest against these actions. This should not be the case. We need to remember whose we are and how he has taught us to live.

Another example of something that happened recently in a suburb close to me. 5 homeless men were kidnapped, taken to a nearby Township and beaten, apparently in connection to a recent house robbery in the area. (It is not known whether these were the actual men involved in the house robbery because these violent actions were carried out by civil society and not law enforcement, so there was no formal investigation done.) One of the men managed to jump out of the moving bakkie on the way there, the others were not able to get away. They were severely beaten with sjamboks. One of the men passed away. Solving crime with more crime is not the answer. No-one is saying crime is okay at all and it absolutely needs solutions. What is concerning is the heartless comments on the articles that were written about this incident. There is no justification for this behaviour. There were some people who said they were happy this had happened and were not sad that a man had been beaten to death. The crime in the area, their safety and the safety in the area is clearly more important than these lives which they see as disposable. Some people say do not feed the people who live on the streets as it keeps them there and the crime will continue. There are Christian people who agree with all these sentiments. We need to stay curious, be willing to investigate further as to the circumstances of these people and why they are there, and to show kindness and compassion. A better and bigger conversation is needed with regards to homeless people. We need residents, business owners, police, local security companies, churches and the homeless people in this conversation. Everyone together, with respect and dignity, can come up with better solutions that will work for everyone

Let us make better daily choices as we follow Jesus. Choices that show the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Choices that bring about peace and mutual flourishing for all.

Top picture by Evelien Burger
Photo: Author's own