When Christians hold the standard, early Christian position of loving enemies, nonresistance or Christian pacifism based in the Love & Cross of Christ a question that will come up quite quickly: “If an armed man came into your house and was going to kill your innocent child would you violently resist them?” This question is usually considered the ultimate question against enemy love.
Surely any just & loving parent cannot allow their child, their only and perfectly innocent child to be killed by an evil person?
Surely any just & loving parent cannot allow their child, their only and perfectly innocent child to be killed by an evil person? Only a very, very evil person would not kill those who are threatening their child, their only, innocent and beloved child?! The child is innocent! The evil person is guilty as sin! Only a despicable, evil, monstrous, misguided, child-hating, unworthy parent could allow this to happen…
Stop!
The question “Would you defend your innocent child?” has in the most unexpected and abrupt way brought us to the crux of the Gospel story! I am astonished to note that this question brings us directly to crucible of the Salvation plan of God! God’s amazing plan seems to have intentionally but secretly embedded this question into its very fabric! A witness to Enemy Love of Christ seems intended to unlock this amazing question “Would a just parent violently defend their innocent child?”
A witness to Enemy Love of Christ seems intended to unlock this amazing question “Would a just parent violently defend their innocent child?”
In a kind of high speed character switch…YOU have suddenly become evil man threatening to kill the innocent child! (and We all are!) YOU threaten the perfectly perfect, perfectly innocent and only son of God. And the just Parent, God Himself, has a perfect weapon. Unlike the many human scenarios we can think up God and His lethal weapon can kill you and save his innocent Child. He looks at the weapon. He knows that throughout the years people will say “a just parent MUST save His innocent child…” He knows that again and again people have already exonerated Him “It’s okay to love your child more than other people…”. He hears more people say “Killing is sometimes Love when it is to save what is important to you” He looks at the weapon that will be perfectly effective… “Will a just parent kill those in the act of killing their child?”
Then!
The innocent Child is speaking! The innocent Child is speaking to all of us. Those who have pointed guns at the innocent. Those who have had to decide if they would point a gun at the guilty. Those throughout history who have, through the inexplicable turns of history & the “necessity” of being responsible, pointed the guns at their fellow Christians. God. The Innocent Child says that His Dad does not need to kill YOU to be just. Innocent children everywhere throughout history repeat the same message. (for how can those who Jesus says are clearly of his Kingdom speak anything other than what the King child speaks?) The actual words the child says are “My father could easily kill you, all I need to do is signal Him to”…but… “Killing to save what one loves” is not how the world is supposed to be. And someone needs to take the first brave step in the new world as God always wanted it to be. God knows He will be considered crazy by the world that now is. But God is ready to start the end of Good being called Evil in history. God does not do NOTHING, He does the most amazing SOMETHING in history. Sheer and raw scandal! He starts the most utterly scandalous movement in History.
A perfectly just and entirely honorable Parent does not need to violently kill to save those He especially loves, He dies in the interest of loving all.
A perfectly just and entirely honorable Parent does not need to violently kill to save those He especially loves, He dies in the interest of loving all. And, THANK GOD, those He loves is EVERYONE. This is the scandalous and amazing new world God has introduced when the world threatened to shoot His Son.
And this, apparently, was at the heart of God’s plan to save the world from evil. Embedded. As if waiting for us to ask the question.
Mennonite Minute 
In reply to the article, ” What Would You Think of a Parent Who Would Not Violently Resist Evil People to Save Their Innocent Child?”
All due respect but I have to say I do not agree with this article. If I saw a father allowing his wife and family, or any helpless victim, to be killed in cold blood before his eyes I feel like I would need to call the police and tell them about not only the murderer on the loose, but also the cowardly father who allowed his family to be murdered. It’s simply evil and wrong.
We are human beings created in God’s image with a divinely given sense of justice. It is not right to ignore that fact.
God’s own throne is upheld with righteousness and justice PS 89:14.
What about “love always protects”? What about those who cannot defend themselves?
If a father can be called an infidel for not providing for his family would it not be reasonable to think that the same charge can be leveled to a father who will not protect his family or the oppressed?
There is a big difference between murder and killing an attacker in defense of self or others. The one is clearly sin; the latter is not.
If something other than killing can to be done to protect someone certainly that is preferable. And a Christian should love his enemy, that’s why he would avoid killing him unless there’s no other righteous alternative; and he would do it not in glee, but out of necessity and righteous defense of others.
Now if a Christian’s family is killed when he is not present or not able to defend them then certainly he would by God’s power and Christ’s love be able to forgive that criminal, being forgiven a much greater debt by God himself. However he should and would still rightly inform the law in order that the criminal might be apprehended and brought to justice. Failing to do so would be failure to be salt in this world and a good, blameless, loving member of society. The Christian could certainly show Christ’s love to the apprehended criminal by visiting him in prison, proclaiming the message of the Gospel to Him, forgiveness, prayer, helping his family etc.
But to allow someone to commit crime unhindered like that is a failure to love one’s own family and society. Especially when one has opportunity to prevent wrongdoing and able to prevent evil.
Often it is argued that a Christian should not, even justly, take life, because the criminal would die and go to hell for eternity. Might we ask what if the man’s own wife, children, or other person who needs protection, what if they are not truly converted and will die and go to hell if this criminal kills them?
When Christ was dying on the Cross He was graciously paying for the one thief’s sins by bearing God’s wrath in his place. Nonetheless Jesus did not attempt to free this believing thief from paying the earthy, civil, temporal penalty for his crimes against society. He did nothing to save him from crucifixion. The believing thief himself acknowledged that he was justly receiving what he deserved.
It wrong and unbiblical to say that it is never right for a Christian to kill an aggressor in order to protect others or self. Especially for the defenseless.
Perhaps there is no absolute rule or strict law of do or don’t in this matter. Every situation is different. We must walk by the Spirit. Christians are guided by the Spirit and not the letter of the law. What may be wrong in one case may not be in another.
However I think it’s safe to say though that it often is right for a Christian to take life if absolutely necessary and as last resort.
I just don’t think this scenario in the article parallels that well with what God did through His Son at the cross.
Although this video is not based on the above scenario I believe it sheds helpful light on such matters.
LikeLike
First, I want to thank you for your respectful tone, it is so appreciated. Also, I’m really curious on where you came across this blog article?
Also note that this article is not arguing for doing nothing to protect family, there are many options between nothing and violence.
If being against violence & killing, in defense & war is wrong (sin?) then most of the early Christians were wrong.
This article is a attempt to get readers to reconsider their commitment to the belief that killing & bloodshed will save us. God bless!
LikeLike
Hey Matt, I saw this article via Facebook.
LikeLike