Lenten Reflections: Violence

"But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear. “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword."

Matthew 26:51 

These words of Christ are much more inclusive than they may appear. Swords don't have to be drawn. Fists not need be clenched in anger. Words can cut far deeper than any physical weapon. The verbal battles that we wage can often turn more violent than entire wars. And the wounds that are inflicted are far worse than amputated limbs, shrapnel scars or paralyzed bodies.

Violence is violence.

Physical. Emotional. Spiritual. 

The antithesis of God's Kingdom.

"Love your enemies", but only if they look like you, sound like you, smell like you, believe like you, and above all else, agree with you 100%. 

When we put conditions on love, we create something that's not really love at all. Love has no conditions. Love cuts through the differences. Love breaks down walls that divide. Love transforms.

As I've journeyed through Lent this year, I am remind that our words can do more damage than the sword. Let's encourage one another by our words, rather than tearing each other down. And let us remember that everyone is worthy of our love, even the most despised of enemies. In fact, they may need it more than our closest friend.

Lord, You were met with violence of deed as well as word. Help us to do away with all violence in our lives; whether physical, emotional or spiritual. Pacify our actions, words and hearts that we may live in peace with all. 

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen                

Over There

It's easy for us to desensitize ourselves to death when it's "over there".  The memories of 9/11 are difficult for Americans because we saw it happen here. The people that suffered and died were familiar. They were like us. They were us.

But when we allows ourselves to move out of the insulated conditioning that most of us live with, we see the world differently. When we see life through the perspective of the Kingdom of God, we realize that "they", "those people", the ones "over there", are familiar as well. They are like us. They are us.

This is an email that I received this last year from a dear friend of mine, and fellow Franciscan brother. Feel the pain that he is feeling because he has chosen to see the world through this perspective. As I said in my previous blog, when we allow ourselves to mourn the loss of life anywhere in this world, the Kingdom of God is realized just a little more than it was before.

Hello All:  Asking for you to remember me in prayer today.  I believed I had made it through the 9/11 memorials without personal incident.  I avoided all references to the occasion.  But this morning as I read facebook and emails from yesterday I had a huge upwelling of anger and frustration.  I struggle with my friends and countrymen's obsession with our own losses, ignoring the massive loss of innocent life our acts of retribution have caused.  My mind flashed back to entering Baghdad in the first few days of "liberation" and seeing the city covered in small black mourning banners.    Individual families had made these banners to announce the death of a child, daughter, mother or some loved one. Estimates are 140,000 innocent civilians died in Iraq directly from warfare, the secondary death numbers are estimated at up to a million.  I have a banner I picked up from a ditch that I keep in a box in the back of my closet in memory of my complicity in the death of all the innocents.  I will carry that memory with me forever.  I try to see the experience as an uncomfortable blessing and guidance from God.  I thank you for your patience in allowing me to express my feelings this day.  Please pray for my anger to subside and that the love of Christ fills me today so that I can be a reflection of Gods love to all I encounter. 

Thank you. God Bless.

Love One Another - Part III - Special Outlaw Theology Edition

"I think that before we can even remotely try to figure out what it means to love our neighbor, we have to first embrace the idea and the notion that we are to love ourselves."

My friend Phil Shepherd, The Whiskey Preacher, shares with us what it means to him to love one another in a special edition of Outlaw Theology. Thanks Phil, for not only contributing to the discussion, but for taking the time to speak directly to us.

Connect with Phil at philshepherd.com, Outlaw Theology and at his faith community, The Eucatastrophe. 

Grab a cup of coffee, check out Phil's vid. and join in the discussion....



How Do We Love Our Neighbor?

Love Your Enemy....Yes, Even Him

Every day, each one of us faces the very real possibility of facing great violence in our culture today. There is no doubt that the violence being meted out toward innocent people is on the rise. But with each act of violence lies an opportunity. Each one of us also posses the very real opportunity to show our world that violence does not necessarily perpetuate more violence. Within each of us are emotions that are not always good indicators of how we should react to the external. When facing violence, to ourselves or those we love, anger, fear and panic are normal human reactions. But are these reactions good or even justified? When looking at the world from a cultural perspective, our answer would be assuredly yes. We're taught from a very early age to answer violence with violence, anger with anger and to despise our enemies. We're taught that our enemies are inherently evil and hating evil is righteous. I would agree that hating evil is justified, and an attribute of most faith communities. However, is an enemy or evil action always to be equated with evil itself?      

Just one day after the stabbing of 14 students at Lone Start College in Cypress, Texas, reactions are being made clear. Whether in the media or in your own personal communities, you are more than likely beginning to see exactly what most people feel about such a horrific tragedy.  Quite naturally, most people are reacting with emotions such as anger, sadness, disgust and fear. These reactions are normal, understandable and quite human. But when our emotions reach the threshold of reaction, we have a choice to make, and that choice could result in actions that reveal two very diametrically opposed pictures. One picture is cultural and socially acceptable. One that is expected and justified from most perspectives. The other picture is one that is counter-cultural, not very socially acceptable and completely unjustified and considered wrong from most world views.

"I have no sympathy for this evil SOB."  

"This loser. This scumbag. This pathetic animal, deserves no justice or sympathy." 

"If students were allowed to carry concealed weapons, this piece of crap would be dead!"       

"He's lucky guns aren't allowed on campus, orhe would of been brought out in a body bag."

"Kill him. Save taxpayers money!"

"Typical Obama supporter."

"Just when you think your life is bad, think to yourself, that could be my son."  

"Finally, we have the name of the freak." 

These are comments about the 20 year old stabbing suspect that I've collected since yesterday, and each one came from people who claim to be a follower of Christ. Some of these are from people that I know personally, and others are comments that I either overheard in public or read on message boards. Each one rose from a very justifiable place: anger, frustration, sadness or fear. Each one came from a place that most of us find ourselves when faced with the worst our culture has to offer. Each comment was real. Human. Acceptable. Expected. Good. And from the perspective of the Kingdom of God, each one is completely Un-Christian. 

When reading the Gospels, it's difficult to hear the words of Christ and justify many of our human reactions to violence in the world today. The teachings of Jesus were opposed and considered radical in His day. They were considered socially unacceptable, blasphemous and in many cases evil. Some of the things that Jesus taught were considered outright ungodly and perceived to be the complete opposite of what people of faith believed. Jesus' teachings were ridiculed, sneered at and dismissed as insanity. When we look at His teachings today, as well as much of the New Testament, it's easy to see that not much has changed in comparison to how our culture views such things.

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. ... " - Luke 6:27-36

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," - Matthew 5:44

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." - Romans 12:14

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:19-21

"Blessed are the peacemakers....Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." - Matthew 5:9 & 11

"If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." - John: 8-7

"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." - Matthew 26:52

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell." - Matthew 5:21-22 

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” - John 13:34-35

"Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world." - John 18:26 

No. His Kingdom is not of this world. His Kingdom calls us to something different, as He taught when He walked the earth. His teachings were not socially acceptable. His teachings were radical. He was rejected as a teacher and called a heretic, ungodly and to be from the devil. His teachings were counter-cultural and rejected by most of the religious leaders. His teachings were considered insanity and to have had no validity to the people of faith. When we read the Gospels, it's easy to see that things have not changed that much in 2013. 

When faced with the most evil manifestations in the world today, we each have a choice in how we react to the human emotions that we have. We can react with anger, fear and frustration. We can return violence with violence and perpetuate the hate that arises from evil, or we can choose to follow the words of Christ and promote something different. For His Kingdom calls us to love when faced with hate, exhibit compassion when others ridicule, to promote peace when faced with violence, and to bless when our natural reaction is to curse. His Kingdom calls us to be different. His Kingdom calls us to manifest how things are suppsoed to be, not how things are.          


  

Capital Punishment & The Kingdom of God

Before reading this blog, please know that I am approaching this topic from a Christian perspective.  I am purposely choosing not to address this as a social issue, and not from our government's perspective on the death penalty.  My thoughts and opinions fall into the realm of the Kingdom of God and what I believe Jesus had in mind for what that Kingdom would look like.  I feel that this approach must be taken because this is an area in which we are not comparing apples to apples when choosing our stance.  If we claim to be followers of Christ, the choice must be made to follow His teachings and His alone.  To be honest, the secular opinion of American society is irrelevant in this situation.         
 
Over the last few days, there's been a lot of talk about the death penalty.  With the execution of Troy Davis in the state of Georgia, the discussion has crept up again and needless to say, opinions are very strong on this issue.  For the purpose of this blog, I will not get into the details, but in the case of Davis, evidence proves that it is very possible that he was innocent and that at the very least, the execution should have been delayed in order to re-examine the case and determine if these claims were warranted.  In my personal opinion, there is a very good chance that an innocent man was killed.  You can read the details of Troy Davis at your leisure on any of the popular news websites of your choice. 

The reason that I choose not to get into the details of Davis' case is because they are not the real issue of what we are witnessing in this situation.  Putting opinions aside of this specific case, and dismissing the fact that an innocent man may have been killed, it's imperative that we ask ourselves the question, "Should the death penalty be accepted as morally acceptable within the Christian Church?"  Whether a man is 100% innocent, or guilty of the worst atrocities that one can imagine, is it acceptable to thoughtfully consider a person's crimes and offenses by a judge and jury and make the premeditated decision to kill another human being because of the sins they have committed?  Again, I am approaching this from a Christian perspective, believing that the "murder" of another human being is a sin.  Murder in this case being considered a premeditated killing of another person that does not fall into the case of innocent accident, self-defense or government sanctioned war, in which the soldiers are doing their job commanded by the US military.  Although the instance of war could be argued from a Kingdom perspective, I'm not naive enough to believe that war can be avoided.  I am not a pacifist, but I definitely do not celebrate war, nor do I think that it should be encouraged as something good and valued from a Christian perspective.  But I'll leave that issue for another blog.        

At this point, you are probably wondering what my opinion is on the death penalty, so let me cut to the chase.  I am 100% against capital punishment.  As I stated before, I am choosing to look at this issue from a Christian perspective; not socially.  I choose to look at life from God's perspective, thus seeing all life as sacred, regardless of the horrendous acts that many people chose to commit.  Does this mean that the man, Jake Kampe, does not believe that some people are worthy of death?  No.  Does this mean that my human nature would not want to see the death and even suffering of those that kill the innocent, those that molest children and rape woman?  Does my opinion of the death penalty mean that somewhere in the dark recesses of my soul, I would resist pulling the trigger of a gun pointed at the head of someone who killed someone that I love?  My wife or one of my boys?  Let me just say that that is an area that I don't even like to think about.  The "man" is capable of much more outside the realms of God's Kingdom.  Which is why I chose to retreat within His borders.

Yes, there is violent imagery in the Old Testament and the death penalty was condoned by Mosaic Law.  But it's important to consider a few issues before we use these illustrations as a justification for capital punishment in today's society.  First of all, as a good friend of mine reminded me of today, two reputable witnesses had to be presented that both witnessed the crime deserving of death.  How often do we have one solid witness at our disposal during a trial, let alone two?  The death penalty was taken very serious in Old Testament Israel.  Which leads to the second issue: "why" was the death penalty condoned in the first place?

It's important to know what was going on in Old Testament times in terms of the Nation of Israel.  This nation was selected as God's chosen people.  These were the people that would bring God's redemptive message to the world.  These people bore the message that would eventually pave the way for Messiah, redemption and all things being made new.  A great change would eventually happen to the world and the people of Israel were the instruments that God chose to use.  Therefore, it was imperative that God protect His people regardless of the cost.  As with the seemingly ridiculous laws found in Leviticus, the death penalty was another example of the extremes God had to go through to make sure Israel survived, persevered and was protected, even from themselves.

While capital punishment may have been necessary in Old Testament times, with the coming of Christ, He in fact made "all things new".  The world had been redeemed through Him and His eventual death of the cross and His resurrection.  Jesus came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, which He did in completion and perfection on the cross.  The Kingdom of God had been inaugurated and Christ's ministry began a way of looking at the world from a radically different perspective.  The Kingdom of God is about everything that will eventually be realized.  It's not complete, but our job as the Church is to reveal it in as much completion as humanly possible, even if it makes no sense to society.  Standing against the death penalty is one of those instances.

As followers of Christ, we face a constant tension of duality.  What might be acceptable by societies standards, may not be within a Kingdom perspective.  Like I said, I may stand against war with God's Kingdom, but understand that war is an unfortunate reality in our world.  By standing against capital punishment, we are showing the world what Christ stood for in it's essence.  We show the world that we are willing to love our enemies, even when all logical reason tells us otherwise.  It shows the world that we are willing to turn the other cheek, even when our other is bloodied.  It shows the world that we are willing to lay down our sword, even when we are 100% justified in wielding it.  It shows the world a Kingdom that chooses life, not death and that it's continuing cycle will not redeem mankind.

When Jesus was confronted with the woman found guilty of adultery in John 8, he had every right to allow her to be killed.  According to Mosaic law, a woman found guilty of committing adultery could be legally stoned to death.  Jesus could have easily forgiven her of her sins, promised her eternity in paradise and given his approval for the stones to begin flying.  Instead, Jesus asks all of us to examine our own lives, drop our stones and ask a very simple question.  If the wages of sin are death, then why am I still alive?                   

The Practice of Love

Most of you know that I recently had the opportunity to join a community of authors in writing for The Practice of Love: Real Stories of Living into the Kingdom of God.  This is a collection of essay by a community of writers that examines what it means love God, ourselves, our neighbors and our enemies in today's culture.  We know that God has called each of us to love in extraordinary ways in all facets of life, but reality proves that this is sometimes easy said than done.  This book provides real life personal stories that will cause the reader to examine what it really means to love in the Kingdom of God.

In contributing to this project, I experienced a lot more personal spiritual insight than I thought would.  I chose to write about what it means to love our enemies because this has always been a difficult thing for me.  We live in a very self-centered culture, so our first reaction in dealing with enemies is usually to place focus on ourselves and how we've been hurt. I don't know about you, but I often think of the person who wronged me and immediately contemplate how I can get revenge and make the offender hurt as I've been hurt.  Not only that, but I usually feel the need to be justified.  What I mean is that I want the other person to realize what they've done was wrong and know, deep within their heart, that they are wrong.  Nothing aggravates me more than someone arrogantly strutting around as if they've done nothing wrong, completely oblivious to the pain they've caused me.  But as a follower of Christ, is this what He calls me to do?  Is this the kind of reaction that will advance the Kingdom of God?  Or does my returning anger with anger, only hinder others seeing the Kingdom in the way Christ wants it to be seen?  These are the questions that I wrestled with as I wrote my essay.    

Ironically enough, over the last few weeks, we have been witness to possibly the quintessential example of an enemy in Osama Bin Laden.  Consequently, with his death, we have all been given a opportunity to examine this issue in the clearest example that we will probably ever have before us.  To me, it was as if God revealed this scenario to me and said, "OK.  You just wrote an essay on what it means to love your enemy, right?  Well, here's THE enemy.  Love him."  Really, God?  I tell you that it's hard for me to swim and you throw me in the middle of the ocean?     

After my experience with The Practice of Love, I find myself wanting to love more.  Specifically, I find myself wanting to expand the way that I love my enemies.  Basically, I came to a realization that I don't want to hate anymore.  I don't want to judge anymore.  I'm finding that I don't feel the need to be "right" all the time, and "win" the arguments, whatever "winning" means.  Instead of actively seeking reasons to be angry with my enemies, dislike or even hate them, I'm learning to seek out ways that I can love them.  What are ways that I can connect with that person and find unity?  Whether or not they "feel" my love for them, how can I really love them, and more importantly,what does that look like in the Kingdom of God?

Those of you that know me, know that I can have somewhat of a temper.  It doesn't take much to set me off, and usually that comes out in dealing with my enemies.  But many years ago, a mentor of mine gave me some advice that I've never forgotten.  It was one of those gems of wisdom that is written on your soul, under the file name: Wisdom.  This man, that was quite a bit older than me, recognized that I often got angry with those that hurt me.  Not only that, but he also recognized that I had the somewhat obsessive desire to "be right" or "win" the argument.  One day, he sat me down and said the following: "Jake, people are going to wrong you throughout your life.  It's going to happen again and again.  But YOU have the choice of how you are going to react to them.  Why is it so important for you to be justified?  Instead, allow them to believe that they've won.  For whatever reason, they felt the need to hurt you.  Let them have it.  It's theirs.  Instead, find a way to do something kind for them.  Find a way to show love to them.  By doing that, you will almost always soften their hearts.  When that happens, then, and ONLY then, can you sit down with them, explain how they hurt you.  99% of the time, they will understand and ALLOW you to be justified.  Then you both win.  That's a better deal, right?"  Yes, Pat.  That's a much better deal.  Thank you.