Saturday, March 2, 2013

Not Peace, But An M-16


Where do you draw the line?

On the one hand, Jesus says that when you're struck in the cheek, to turn your head to let your attacker whack the other one.

And when Peter removes the ear of the High Priest's servant at his arrest, Jesus scolds him

On the other hand, He was hardly the picture of pacifism when He got pissed off about the Temple being used as a holier-than-thou market..."Here, you go, some five doves to sacrifice, for a love-gift of only five shekels!" (The phraseology might be familiar...)

And then, "Not peace but a sword..."

"Father against son, mother against daughter..."

And when He healed the centurion's servant, He didn't tell the man to resign his commission and take up farming.

What are we to make of Jesus' position on conflict, and what should we do when faced with it? What do you do when you hear your window open at night, and burly men climbing over the sill?

Personally, I think it's pretty simple. Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd.

And the shepherd protects his flock.

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