In the mid-morning hours of September 11th, 2001, before the anger welled up within us and took root in the national psyche, we experienced a communal wave of fear.
Who did this to us?
How could this happen on our soil?
Why would anyone want to harm us in this way?
The uncertainty was palpable as gas lines extended for blocks and parents checked their children out of school early in order to gather and protect against any localized aftershocks.
This understandable wave of fear would soon permeate many aspects of our lives. Duct-tape became more than a handy household item. It would soon pair with plastic sheeting to provide the duo that would innoculate us from any air-borne pathogens that would serve as the follow-up to the first wave of attacks.
We were afraid even to go to the mailbox.
That fear would manifest itself in the political forum as candidates stirred those pangs of anxiety that indicated that the pressing of the wrong button in the voting booth would be a harbinger of the apocalypse.
I shared in that fear. I held my newborn daughter especially close in those days. I wept over the prospect of the Jericho-style world that she might be brought up in.
And as I clutched her in my fear, I lost perspective of what the true lesson was.
Fear can be a good thing. It is not in and of itself evil. It is one of the strongest emotions that God has given us.
It keeps up a few paces away from the side of the cliff. It prompts us to ease up on the gas pedal.
It can be good. But it can also be abused.
And in our society, fear is the ultimate motivator to take up violence as the premier method for “standing up.”
But to be consummed or controlled by fear is dangerous.
And it is sin.
It is sin because it exhibits a lack of faith in God and is expressely forbidden by Him (Matthew 6:25–34)
You see, for the Child of God there is no reason to fear. God instructs us some 365 times in Scripture to not be afraid (one for every day of the year).
He is ultimately in control. To fear is to cast His sovereignty in doubt.
Fear negatively manifests itself when we place our emphasis on the wrong day: tomorrow. All that He has given us is this day. And it has enough worries of its own.
But fear is so prevalent. Our existence is so tenuous. It is easy to succumb to worry and anxiety about tomorrow.
–This time will it be a school close to me that endures a gun-wielding madman?
–Will there be another attack on this nation, this time closer to home?
–What will happen to my children if terrorism is not eradicated?
Yet, ultimately, those are not the proper questions that we are to be asking. Those questions are rooted in an earthly focus that sequesters hope to an exclusively intangible concept. The important questions are (cribbing from Paul):
–If God is for us, who can be against us? (Nobody)
–Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? (Again, nobody)
–Who is to condemn? (Once more, nobody)
–Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Say it with me, “nobody.”)
–Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (That’s a resounding no.)
You see, all of the suicide bombers, biotoxins, apocalyptic scenarios and Paris Hilton movies cannot rob us of a hope that passes all understanding.
It will not change the ending of the story for those who are in Christ.
There is no need for us to respond violently to those who set themselves against us. The outcome is assured.
“No weapon formed against us shall prosper, all that shall rise up against us shall fall. I will not fear what the devil may bring me, I am a servant of God.”
Earthly empires will rise and fall, but the Kingdom is eternal.
Don’t be afraid of tomorrow. Live today.
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I could go on and on about different virtues (or, Fruits of the Spirit) that, properly nurtured will lead to a non-violent life. But, I think that the point has been made repeatedly that nonviolence is the ideal.
Next week we will move into all of the different what-ifs that people offer as a supposed refutation of nonviolence and how those scenarios, ultimately, are lacking.