NINE MODEST PROPOSALS FOR A PEACE CHURCH IN PERILOUS TIMES

Phil Kniss

I was sure I knew the answer to Miss Mast’s question. But an invisible weight kept my hand from going up. Maybe my classmates would think my answer was stupid. I was shy, bookish, and couldn’t hit a softball out of the infield. I knew my place in the social hierarchy of the sixth grade, so it was always safer to let others speak up first.

Today I am a Mennonite pastor, a representative of the historic peace church tradition, and now that the United States is engaged in one of the most popular wars since we took on Hitler’s Germany, it almost feels like I’m back in Miss Mast’s sixth-grade classroom. What dare I say without having everyone turn and stare at me? In the current all-out war against terrorism, there is little appreciation for a biblical pacifist response. I know my place; it is a great temptation to let others do the talking.

We don’t expect all Christians to agree with us, of course. But even in a historic peace church, we have to tread softly, because we are not all at the same place on these issues. We all agree that the terrorist attacks against the U.S. on September 11 were unspeakably evil. But there is sharp disagreement in our churches over what constitutes an appropriate Christian response to that evil. These disagreements aren’t going away anytime soon. So how does any peace-teaching church manage to have a relevant word for a fragmented world when its own unity is being challenged from within?

For starters, I propose we stop talking about our “peace position.” After all, peace is not a position. Peace is a way. It is a journey Jesus has called us to walk. I’d rather be on a journey, inviting others to walk with me, than to be at a particular position and have to defend it. Taking a journey is something you do on the move. Taking a position and defending it is something you do standing still. Give me the journey, any day.

So let me offer nine modest proposals that will help the church move a little farther down the road on our peace journey. I call these proposals modest because they won’t bring overnight unity. They won’t ensure that we all come to stand at the same “position.” They might, however, help us start moving in the same general direction. And that should please the Prince of Peace.

(1) Let’s immerse ourselves in the whole story of Scripture. We say we are a people of the book. Let’s get serious about the Scriptures. We need them to guide us through these confusing times. No, the Bible doesn’t have a chapter and verse that tells us how to respond to international terrorism. Some folks lift out a verse here and a verse there and declare “this is what the Bible says.” That’s not what I mean when I say get serious about the Scriptures. I mean become familiar with the God of the Bible—Old and New Testaments—knowing not only the Bible stories but the Bible Story. Many of us have favorite peace texts we often turn to. That’s good. That’s important. But our convictions on peace must be based on the whole of Scripture.

(2) Let’s cling to belief in a God whose heart is for all his children. God loves people. You can’t get more basic than that. God has a deep and abiding affection for all human beings, and wants all people to be reconciled—to others and to God. That is the most basic truth about God we can hold to. Every person on the face of this earth is God’s creation. And God desires reconciliation with all of us.

(3) Let’s agree not to take God’s job away from God. We humans are very good at usurping God’s authority. God is the only Creator and Sustainer of life. God is the only righteous judge of good and evil. Yet we presume to be able to determine which forms of human life are worth saving, and which are expendable.

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. citizens have been informed by their leaders that the nation’s mission is to “rid the world of evil.” The Scriptures are pretty plain. That’s God’s agenda, and God is going to do it, in God’s time and in God’s way. “Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord.” Sure, we should do all we can to make this world a better place, more just, more peaceful—but rid the world of evil? That battle belongs to God.

(4) Let’s not waver from a commitment to make Jesus Lord of our lives, and to follow his example in life. What does that mean? WWJD is not a bad place to start. Those bracelets and trinkets that ask “What would Jesus do?” are gimmicky and simplistic. And that question, by itself, may not answer all the complex issues we face in the modern world. But I still say it’s a good place to start.

Can we picture Jesus and his disciples running a bomb squadron to confront the evil systems they had to deal with? They did confront the evil powers in their context, but they used radically different methods. Jesus taught in Matthew 5, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”

We have to come to terms with passages like this. We have to come to terms with the methods Jesus used to confront his own enemies, and the powers of evil that were crushing his people. That is, if we want to make Jesus not only personal Savior but also Lord.

(5) Let’s agree to always walk toward, not away from, those with whom we disagree. All of us have opinions on these issues. And all our opinions have points that can be challenged. We literally need each other in the community of faith. We need diversity of perspectives to find the truth. Everyone suffers from a certain measure of naiveté. If we never lay our convictions out to be tested and challenged, and if we just stick with those who see things our way, we will never discover our blind spots.

(6) Let’s always spend more time listening than formulating responses. We must be quiet long enough to hear what the Spirit is saying. If we are always feverishly making our case, how will the Spirit break through to give us new insight? If we are constantly driving our own stake into the ground to maintain and defend our position, how will the Spirit nudge us a little farther along the road?

(7) Let’s commit ourselves to work for peace with justice. That’s the biblical picture. The psalmist sang about justice and peace kissing each other. There cannot be lasting peace without justice. In the Middle East, there have been lots of cease-fires, which some people call peace. But the injustice remains, so there’s no real peace. And let’s not short-circuit justice in the present crisis. It is right that those responsible for these massive acts of inhumanity be called to account for their deeds and that justice be done. But there is more than one way for that to happen.

(8) Let’s always listen to the wisdom of the church. Notice how I phrased that: “listen to the wisdom of the church.” Let’s be familiar with the confession of faith of our own tradition—whether we are from a historic peace church or another Christian tradition. There are good reasons why some convictions have remained with us for generations. We can disagree with some of these convictions, but we must take them seriously and bend over backwards to listen.

On the peace issue, as well as others, some persons take their cues from secular media or pop culture icons, then enter a vigorous argument with their church’s views. As a Mennonite, I have a problem with members of my church who can quote talk show hosts and TV preachers forward and backward but have never taken time to study carefully and prayerfully our own Confession of Faith and other teachings from our own tradition. I assure you, we Mennonites don’t get everything right. Of course we may thoroughly study our tradition, whatever it is, and still find things with which to take issue. That’s okay. That’s good, even. But do listen to the wisdom of your faith community.

(9) I’m stopping with nine, because I don’t want anyone to confuse these with the ten commandments. These are modest proposals, not commandments. Nine is Let’s never stop proclaiming hope. That’s something important we have to offer the world in times like these. Our theology of resurrection is a theology of hope. God can bring life out of death. God can bring peace out of chaos. And God has the last word.

—Phil Kniss, Harrisonburg, Virginia, is pastor of Park View Mennonite Church. This article is adapted from a sermon he preached at Park View on September 30, 2001.