I recently saw a movie about a preacher named Sam Childers who built an orphanage in Sudan, near the border with Uganda. One of his controversial methods is using violence to rescue children who were abducted by rebel militia. This earned him the title "Machine Gun Preacher". As I thought about this man, I thought about Jesus, who Christian theology calls humanity's Savior. Jesus never took up arms to eliminate injustice during his time, and probably would not take up arms today to eliminate injustice. For those who are suffering violence, we could not blame them for entertaining the thought that Sam Childers may be a greater man than Jesus.

     Many of us will probably cringe at the thought that a certain man may have had better methods than Jesus, looking at it as blasphemous. However, we can also use that thought to look at ourselves. Our heroes use violence and we react with delight when a heartless criminal gets what he deserves, especially when vengeance comes with brutality. What is it about us that finds delight in vengeance? I believe it is because we have a sense of justice that the creator ingrained in us. Also, the creator sometimes uses violence himself- sending the Israelites to conquer the Canaanites as payment for the Canaanites' evil.

      God's violence shock us as heartless. As an aside, it is also possible that the harshness of God's sentence for evil maybe a way to communicate his disdain for evil. Jesus did tell his disciples to gouge their eyes out when it causes them to sin. However, his disciples did not do it. In the same way, it is possible that the brutality by which the Israelites are to conquer their enemies may be God's communicating his desire for evil be eliminated and not compromised with, not something to be carried out. Whatever the reason God commanded violence, it is because he hates evil and wants it destroyed. People like Sam Childers do their part in fulfilling God's justice. Therefore, we could not just easily condemn his method. In a way, he is a man after God's heart.

     However, we can also say this about the God of Christian revelation, violence is ultimately not his instrument for bringing justice. His ultimate instrument is reconciliation. Jesus, the incarnate God, sought reconciliation between victims and victimizers. He ministered to tax-collectors and to zealots. Therefore, his method is not to kill the bad guys, but to reconcile the bad guys to their victims. Jesus directed the violence evil deserved to himself by suffering and dying on the cross in the place of evil men, thereby reconciling evil men to God. This reconciliation is either to be embraced or rejected. 

     For those who have suffered violence, this is a hard pill to swallow. It goes against human nature. We can symathize with Jonah who got angry with God for not punishing the repentant Ninevites. We have a choice of thinking of ourselves as "good people" who stand above "evil people", or we can stand in solidarity with those we call evil, knowing that we have also done and thought evil. We have a choice of clinging to the human method of dealing with evil, fighting it with violence (beyond self-defense which is justified), or seeking reconciliation with our enemies, just as God sought reconciliation with us.