Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
It would be easy to take this verse out of context and assume Jesus is saying he promotes war rather than peace. To the contrary, the goal of the Christian Gospel is 'peace on earth, goodwill toward men.'
However, Jesus was no pacifist. In an angry rage he drove money-changers--those who were overcharging Jews for the animals that would be used in Temple worship--right out of the Temple, overturning their tables and all. No 'gentle meek and mild' pacifist could have done such a thing.
There is a time to fight, and there are things worth fighting for. One of those is the Gospel. Another is human freedom. Another is the protection of the lives of loved ones and their property. Nowhere does the Bible even hint that fighting for these things, even with deadly force, is forbidden.
The peace that Jesus speaks about must be balanced with other statements He made, showing that common sense dictates that evil in this world must be opposed vehemently, even if it means using deadly force.
Had Europe heeded the lone voice of Winston Churchill in the late 1920s and early 30s, as he warned that Hitler must be stopped, then the world could have avoided the Holocaust and a deadly world war. But Britain was in no mood to take 'preemptive action' against one of the most brutal barbarians in history. You know the rest of the story.
These truths must not be forgotten in light of the deluded thinking of those pacifists who masquerade as Christians, deceiving people into believing that it is always wrong to fight back.
Song: 'Keep on the Firing Line' by George Younce and the Cathedrals. Here ole George 'gets down' to some mega low notes!
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