On Pacifism and Selling Cloaks to Buy Swords

Recently, a common conversation came up yet again. Someone was explaining their pacifist beliefs on their blog and someone challenged them with: "You might wish to note that Christ did recommend selling your clothing to buy a sword if you did not already have one. Why buy a sword if it is always wrong to use?"

My Reponse:

To take this story to justify violence or the building of armies confuses the lesson of a story with some of the facts that happen to be in the story. He commanded a group of specific disciples to buy 2 small swords. This is very far from an individual commandment to each of us to arm ourselves, and is also very far from a commandment to build armies. Two short swords would get them nowhere, and actually they were short daggers, not even military weapons. The purchasing of the swords was part of fulfilling an OT prophecy about the chopping off of an ear/the Messiah being counted among the lawless (Isaiah 53:12), and also the disciples were being tested.

Do not forget the end of the story and its lesson. Jesus commands his disciples “No more of this!” when they become violent.Another lesson of the story is the inefficiency of violence. His followers get caught up in this grand hero narrative of saving their leader and the world (much like your roommate B tries to construct these grand, unrealistic scenarios), only to end up hurting a defenseless slave. Jesus then heals this wrongfully injured man. The lesson is that getting caught up in these grand narratives of just violence or redemptive violence just leads to recklessness and sorrow.

It all comes back to Jesus proclamation that not only killing is wrong, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” Those who harbour anger and violent thoughts against others have already sinned, because buying into these hypotheticals about buying swords (or guns, or tanks, or bombs) to protect inevitably lead to more senseless violence than protection of innocent life. This is especially true today when we can be so easily manipulated into believing we are acting to defend innocent people, when in reality we are the aggressors. In fact, throughout history, every military aggressor believed that they were fighting defensively.

For more, there is a useful four part series on such passages at http://www.ecapc.org/articles/RensbeD_HS1_Centurion.asp. I remember being too scared to ask about such passages at my home church when I was a teenager. I feared the answers might challenge the church or my own faith too much. My pastor sensed I had such questions, and was very open to me bringing them up, but I decided not to at the time.