Gunmen

Here we are again. A stand-off with the Law. But while the police upheld civil law, the others were on the side of Law. Those gunmen laying waste to people in a theatre hall were coldly killing because their victims did not follow the Law of God…as the Gunmen saw it. They left a country bewildered—half a world bewildered—about why a handful of men would try to enforce their understanding of God’s Law with bullets. And then they blew themselves up to reap their reward. That’s a lot of faith. And we know they have not learned what God has always known and what we are barely learning: that you cannot force Law on people, or not for long. You can’t force anything on people—not for long—not even Love.

In the 1530’s a group of radical Protestants called Anabaptists (re-baptizers) tried this. They set up a society in Munster, Germany, where God’s Law was enforced by violence, and their rebellion was betrayed and taken apart by violence and internal corruption, their leaders tortured and hung in cages outside the city walls, which are there to this day. In response, the Anabaptist movement chose a non-violent path in responding to tyranny and violence that they have offered to the world ever since.

A few years ago I set up for one of our school chapels a debate between Robert, an Anabaptist, and Carter, a Presbyterian, who believed in just war (fighting to stop evil). But to mix things up a bit, I had Robert defend the just war position and gave the peace position to Carter. They had to defend the other side from what they believed.  Carter had far more experience with the debate format, but Robert, of course, was just as good an arguer. Most of the kids at school are gung ho about weapons and the military, so they wanted Robert to win the debate, but they had all taken debate class from Carter. He knew his stuff! That was the quietest chapel on record. You could have heard a pen drop.

While this is yet another subject on which Christians have to agree to disagree, we do have to think about our response to violence and authority and especially imposed authority. Paul said, “Slaves, obey your masters.” What if, heaven forbid, we were enslaved by ISIS? (For a picture of this, read John Hersey’s White Lotus where the Chinese come on ships to America and take them away as slaves). Yet (finally) we know slavery and tyranny of all kinds is wrong. We (finally) understand we were all created for freedom. We know that we can use violence to stop things that are wrong. It’s why we have police who enforce the law and stop gunmnen.

So let’s talk about Law. The Gunmen of our world have an understanding of God’s Law and want to impose it on us. We know this is wrong. But do we do this to others? Do we try to legislate Law for other people that they don’t understand or share? Oh, we say, but our Law is the right one. Yes, maybe so, but it’s the imposition on others that’s the problem.  When Jesus came to fulfill the Law, he came not to give us a new set of regulations, but a Law that would be written on our hearts, in our consciences, and in our minds. It would be the Great Law, the only Law really: Love. All the laws derive from this. And this is the Law out of which God created us and gave us freedom from Him to make our own choices and even Fall and drag Him down to Hell with us. He gave us Law as a Tutor to lead us to Jesus, who would set us free from all Law on the one hand, and make us his slaves and his servants to all, on the other. The paradox of Grace. He persuades us so that we give him everything, all power and authority and trust. We give it freely, willingly, joyfully. He forces nothing and requires everything, and we learn the difference.

So when Christian leaders lead, they do not lord it over anyone but serve everyone. They demand nothing, least of all submission. They love. And those who have learned to trust them follow freely because they choose to. When pastors lead, they demand nothing, least of all submission. They love. And those in their care follow freely because they choose to. And when husbands lead, they demand nothing, least of all submission. They love. And wives follow freely because they choose to. In the Kingdom of God, there is no such thing as positional authority, where you gain authority simply by assuming a job and a title. All authority is earned. There is no external Law, only that which is written on our hearts.

Those gunmen have not learned about true law or true authority. They still think they can impose both by force. And for a time, perhaps they can. But ultimately, they will lose. And so will we to the very extent we forget the Law of Love and apply (however mildly) their method. We grieve with France. We grieve with Syria. We grieve over what made those Gunmen do what they did. We may not be able to do much. At least we should apply what we do know right where we are, “that the world may know.”