He shall judge between the nations
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
    neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:4

Maybe our world is post-pacifism.

I hear people loudly choosing one act of violence as more acceptable than another. Where are the voices declaring that NO act of violence is acceptable?

There’s a long history of conscientious objectors, religious groups like Quakers and Mennonites, and other swaths of people who abhor all practices of war. Ranker.com lists Albert Einstein, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr, John Lennon, Helen Keller, and other notable figures in history as pacifists.

While that list may be open to some interpretation, the idea of resisting war has precedence in our world. But I don’t read a lot of headlines touting peace as an option these days.

And maybe it’s not. I’ll freely admit it’s easy to claim to be a pacifist when your life has never been touched by war. I don’t know how I would have responded to Hitler’s Germany, for instance.

Author Cornelius Plantinga defines sin as “Not the way it’s supposed to be.” That’s how I feel about war: It’s a sin–our world isn’t supposed to be like this. I don’t know how to “solve” the sin of war, I only know that humans weren’t made to be weapons. That’s what Jesus taught me when he said, “Love your enemies” and “He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.”

Is there a place for the pacifist voice in the world today? I think so. I know the two words sound alike, but being a “pacifist” need not be mistaken for “passive”. Jesus said peacemakers will be called children of God. So how does a child of God proclaim peace?

I think it involves reclaiming the FIST in Pacifist. A raised fist–A show of strength. Not a show of violence, mind you, but a sign of resolve, of access to great power and wisdom. Peacemakers must cast a vision of a different world–a different way of living. Peacemakers must strive for justice, for resolution, and for forgiveness. Christian peacemakers must claim that what is seemingly impossible for mortals is possible for God.

During the first Gulf War, I carried a sign at a peace march that said, “Support our soldiers. Bring them home alive!” I’m much older now, but not too old to wave a sign if the opportunity arises. What else can I do? Here are some of my thoughts:

• Support peacebuilding organizations. I’m just beginning to learn about some of these organizations, like https://www.allianceforpeacebuilding.org/. There are many groups like this who work on the ground to promote peace in war torn areas.
• Following the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/umcjustice. This is my denomination, which is committed to peacemaking.
• Facebook memes! I posted one yesterday that said, “It’s okay to be heartbroken for more than one group of people at the same time.” It got 48 likes. In a small way, I was promoting some of the ideals of pacifism to my friends.
• Thoughts and Prayers. This concept has become a derogatory phrase for giving only lip-service to a serious problem. We must respond with more than these, but our thoughts and our prayers are important ways to focus our attitudes, words, and deeds.
• Keep up with current events. Being a pacifist doesn’t mean withdrawing from the pain of war and conflict. If anything, peacemaking requires an informed understanding of the sources of conflict, and the proliferation of violence. This requires utilizing more than one source of information, and even taking controversial stands on the issues of the day.
• Think globally, act locally. As the song says, “Let peace being with me, let this be the moment now.” We must stand against violence in our relationships, our churches, our words and our actions.

Whatever your position on the issues of the day, we are all called to hold out hope for peace in this broken world.

Not peace and quiet…

but peace and LOUD!

Have a great week,

Mitch