It was a short year ago that I offered a column about violence, asking the rhetorical question: \u201cIs Violence a Christian Value?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apparently, I was wildly na\u00efve when I said, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And apparently, there are many people who identify themselves as Christians who are very OK with violence being an option when they don\u2019t get their way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m gobsmacked \u2013 but not shocked anymore. Example: Lauri Carleton was shot and killed on Aug. 18 because she was flying a Pride Flag at her store in Lake Arrowhead, California. Her alleged killer, Travis Ikeguchi, was then killed in a shoot-out with police. Among other things, Ikeguchi claimed himself to be a Bible-quoting Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m stunned at how some professed Christians can display their \u201cfaith\u201d as justification for violence. Wow! What a betrayal of the Jesus they claim to follow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s listen in on some words of Jesus on the cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is a man who was the \u201cultimate victim\u201d of a ruthless system, dying a most cruel death. Yet he\u2019s overheard to say: \u201cFather, forgiven them. They don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It seems two basic things are happening at that remarkable moment. One, Jesus\u2019 dying words reflect love, not vengeance; forgiveness, not retribution. Two, Jesus\u2019 invisible power turns our understanding of being a victim totally upside down. He doesn\u2019t spew hatred and retribution when he\u2019s wronged. He reflects a deeper power we could rightly call compassionate courage, loving forgiveness, even forgiving love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Together, they transform our usual compulsion to strike back, to hurt back. He\u2019s not a victim destroyed. He\u2019s a victim restored to his fullest depth of humanity. So, here\u2019s the Gospel version of a victim turning violence inside out, upside-down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are we supposed to do with that in the cultural climate we live in today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violence shows up \u201cout there.\u201d But it begins as an inward erosion of the soul. Do you feel like a victim? I personally don\u2019t. But I admit to some level of helplessness in the face of exaggerated violence-bent attitudes. How can we hold ourselves in forgiving, compassionate ways before the self-loathing of others who want to spew their spiritual pain out onto others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can \u201cpush back\u201d in verbal ways, but it seems likely our efforts are dismissed. Push back anyway. We can find loving ways to respond to someone\u2019s anger, to someone\u2019s scapegoating us or an \u201cother\u201d person they don\u2019t like. Find those loving ways anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are you confronted by a person professing Christian faith but speaking in hateful terms and dismissing the forgiving tone of Jesus? Speak your own truth that affirms a forgiving Jesus, then walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I regularly need to remind myself of Jesus\u2019 central words to \u201clove your enemies.\u201d Almost every time, I ask myself: \u201cHow can I do that with a depth of love that I don\u2019t feel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I must remember love is not a feeling, but a choice. Someone\u2019s hateful language, someone\u2019s fearful presence, does not make me a victim. In my victim-feeling moments, I can remember I am more than a victim. I\u2019m a human being trying to understand another hurting, fear-driven human being. That may be a fool\u2019s errand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I try to understand, when I try to be compassionate, I\u2019ve done all I can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How the other person responds is out of my control. My speaking out \u2013 and my efforts to listen to another person \u2013 are all I can do to re-affirm my strong conviction that violence in word and\/or action are not the way of Jesus. His is a better way, a healthier way, for us to live together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rev. Paul Graves<\/strong> is a retired elder member of the Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The recent killing of a store owner in California displaying a Pride flag by a self-professed “Bible-quoting Christian” has Rev. Paul Graves revisiting the topic of violence and Christianity. Graves encourages us to look no further than Jesus to see a better way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conversation","8":"category-pacific-northwest-conference"},"yoast_head":"\n