Friday, November 21, 2008

Thoughts on the Message of Jesus

I have been increasingly troubled by the fact that some Christians are such ardent supporters of war. I fear that too many Christians are stuck in the pre-Christian Old Testament era when an eye-for-an-eye was the prevailing morality. Jesus came to put that time behind us. His message is that the Kingdom is already here. He tells us that we can have the Kingdom right now if we truly love one another—if we could just trust Him and give up the idea of enemies. If we truly accept Jesus’ message, we can find peace within ourselves and amongst ourselves upon the earth today. The Kingdom is right before us, waiting for us to claim it. We must only take the leap of faith and love our enemies without demanding that they love us first. Of course, this is contrary to all human logic and this is what makes Jesus so profoundly radical. Human logic tells us that we must destroy our enemies before they can destroy us. But this path leads only to an endless cycle of violence. Instead, Jesus tells us to accept suffering without causing more suffering. He asks us to follow Him to the cross without striking back at those who would harm us. His message is that we do not have to wait to have peace on earth. He tells us that the Kingdom is already present amongst us. All we have to do is abandon our belief in enemies and trust in Him and the power of love and forgiveness. And this is why His message is so difficult to accept. The more we crush our enemies, the more we crush His presence in our lives.

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