This post is not what you think it is and the title is sensationalism.
In preparation a sermon I recently preached during our Veteran's Day service, I wrestled with the options on a Christian's response to war. (If you have a moment, you can read/listen to my sermon here.) I deeply struggled how to preach a sermon faithful to the Isaiah text and honoring to those who served. In my studies, I rediscovered, Facing Terrorism: Responding as Christians by Edward Leroy Long Jr., it is a briefly poignant book outlining potential responses of the Christian when dealing with terrorism in our world. In the book he identifies terrorism as a "behavior that uses violence or the threat to use violence to create fear in order to further some purpose, if only the purpose of venting anger against that which its perpetrators dislike." (Long, pg. 2). Additionally, Long offers three models for countering terrorism, one of which is Stassen's Just-Peacemaking theory.
Long writes just-peacemaking "makes the bold assumption that it is possible to make peace even with those with whom there is disagreement, even with those who are antagonistic and presently driven by hate, and even with those whose behavior has taken violent forms." (Long, pg. 55). Long differentiates between the theories of just war and pacifism because the two are moral responses to war. Just-peacemaking, instead of responding to war a moral problem, seeks to take an active initiative in order to achieve peace.
The just-peacemaking model is not limited to a Christian's response to terrorism or to war but to conflict in general. The clue to just-peacemaking resides in serious reading of the Sermon on the Mount, extensively developed by Glen Stassen. Stassen writes, "The Sermon on the Mount is not about human striving toward high ideals but about God's transforming initiatives to deliver us from the vicious cycles in which we get stuck. It has a realistic view of our world, characterized by murder, anger, divorce, adultery, lust, deceit, enmity, hypocrisy, false prophets, and houses destined for destruction. It announces that in the midst of such bondage, there is also another force operating. God is also beginning to rule with justice and peace...the Sermon on the Mount describes specific way we can participate in the new initiatives God is taking." (Long, pg. 56).
Stassen developed seven steps for just-peacemaking, each one of these steps is a way of creating dialogue aimed at healing conflict: (1) affirm common security interests with adversaries; (2) take independent initiatives; (3) talk with your enemy; (4) seek human rights and justice; (5) acknowledge vicious cycles; (6) end judgmental propaganda and make amends; and (7) work with citizens' groups for the truth. (Long pg. 56).
The seven steps for just-peacemaking are not limited to one's response to war or terrorism but to any conflict as well. Just-peacemaking urges the individuals to hear the other and to learn what they are really trying to say. Thus, we can begin, as churches, to explore ways in which our church leaders can engage in just-peacemaking as it relates to restoration of members who have harmed the community, and members harmed by the community.
One way I believe church leaders can fully explore this is its relation to Bowen's Family Systems Theory. I believe there is a connection between the two, allowing church leaders to function as just-peacemakers in their communities. Unfortunately, I am out of time and must put this on hold until later in the week. In the meantime, if you are curious about just-peacemaking or family systems, you may pick up Stassen's book Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives of Justice and Peace or Israel Galindo's The Hidden Lives of the Congregation. I'll close with this statement: I'm coming to the realization that Jesus was neither a crusader or pacifist, but a just-peacemaker who sought to reconcile creation with itself and with God.
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