Civil war

 This week's verses are Matthew 10:34-36

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword! For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

It would have been prudent for Jesus to unite all of Israel in peace. Many people wanted him to gather people together in opposition to the Roman occupation. How great it would be if all of Israel were one big family against the unbelievers!

And Jesus himself said "blessed are the peacemakers." And he talked about how he wanted to gather Israel together under his wings like the way a hen protects her chicks. And yet here, he says that he is coming to set people against each other. What??

Jesus is quoting the prophet Micah. In the book of Micah, the prophet is describing the division that will take place as people turn on each other because of their conflicting values, where the worldly people and the godly people cannot reconcile their differences. He's saying that there will come a point where our values will differ enough from the people around us that it will result in persecution, and that the disagreement will be so visceral that it will turn to violence.

We've seen this a few times in history, where Christians were persecuted (or vice versa) by their non-believing friends, family, and neighbors. We see it now where people cut all contact with their family for being of a different political religion than they are. We see it in the escalating hostility towards those with traditional values. But it shouldn't be a surprise to us, because Jesus told us it would happen.

But this is the gospel we never hear. We are presented with this soft, agreeable Jesus, the paper mascot kidnapped by pacifists and sent to fight on their behalf. The huggy Jesus who is marketed to us just wants to hold everyone's hand and cuddle. And yet here the real Jesus is saying "You will have to choose me over all of these other relationships, even deep relationships that mean the world to you, and some of those people may mean you deadly harm as a result." Where are the people handing out tracts for that?

It's in these verses that Jesus hints to us that the Prince of Peace is not necessarily the Prince of Surrender. If we're meant to be unwavering in our devotion, but everyone else wants us to bend to their fallen ideology, there is going to be conflict as they try to pull us along. The love Jesus calls us to is not the lukewarm love of weak compromise but the sincerity of authenticity and the commitment to not retaliate.

The bus we're on is going to a different place than the bus the other people want to board. Each of us wants to drag the others onto the bus they don't want to ride. Sometimes it turns into a scuffle. It's an irreconcilable situation with eternal stakes.

Muslim converts to Christianity understand this too well. They are often persecuted fiercely, sometimes even killed by their own family, as a result of their decision to follow Jesus. In China the situation is similar. A person who is devoted to anything other than the Chinese Communist Party is a liability that has to be dealt with severely. 

It would be so nice if huggy Jesus would appear and say "Oh don't worry about me. I get it. Just forget about church for now and go back to mosque or The Party and don't rock the boat. The important thing is that you're comfortable and safe." But instead he brings the sword, and people's parents run them over with cars or their neighbors denounce them to the death squads.

But our job is to be civil as we fight this war. Our job is to forgive those who treat us poorly, since they don't know what they're doing. But these are not easy actions. That's why Jesus warned us at the start, so that we could get ourselves ready and count the full cost of following up. If the sword comes for you, and you lose friendships, property, or even your life, are you ready? Can you forgive and be civil? Or will you join the world in its ways of handling conflict?