When talking about pacifism, questions tend to arise…

“So you’re saying that if a man were trying to kill my wife and my two year old daughter, I shouldn’t attack him?”

Essentially, yes… if you are a proclaiming Christian, my suggestion is to try to use nonviolent methods to solve such a problem. It might sound crazy, but Jesus rising from the dead sounds crazy too… Now, I’m not saying it would be easy. It takes faith… and that is one reason why I believe that nonresistance is such an important discipline. Nonresistance forces us to trust God before we trust in our own actions and judgment. This is God’s desire of us.

This is the way I look at it: I understand that my duty as a husband would be to protect my family… but what sort of protection can I offer if I am not going to my source of protection first?

In such a situation, assuming my faith is strong, I would pray. That’s number one on my list because I believe God answers prayers. But I’m not just talking about praying for protection. I’m also talking about praying for God’s will to be done, because I can’t convince God what is right and what is wrong… I must trust Him. Don’t get me wrong though… praying for protection is important too, but first, I would ask for His will to be accomplished.

Time is valuable in this scenario, so maybe I won’t have time to pray. I don’t think this is ever an excuse though. The Spirit speaks for us in groans we can’t understand when we are weak (Rom. 8:26). So, after my prayer, I would lay down my own life in place of my wife and/or daughter, like any good father or husband would do. I would rather die than have my family die along with me… I mean, this is the stuff you see in movies all the time: “Let her go! Take me instead!”

If that doesn’t work, I would still want to convince the evildoer that he or she would not have to follow through with his or her threats. But all in all, I will not resist. If my family has to go, they will die as martyrs- dying in a way that would bring glory to God… because if you are dying in the name of God, for the sake to do good rather than act in impulse and vengeance, maybe it will plant a seed in the person who really just needs help. Now it would be painful to watch my family go… I could only hope that in that situation, I would pass into glory as well. But if that isn’t the case, Jesus’ disciples and His mother watched as He was being crucified- and was all for the greater good, as painful as it was to watch. Even Peter tried to defend Jesus, as he sliced off the soldier’s ear as Christ was being arrested. Jesus turned to him and said, “Peter, put down your sword! If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.”

Even action in self-defense would be considered “living by the sword.” Instead of this, I would rather live by the sword of the spirit- and do what it says… That includes not resisting an evil man… and if he strikes me or my family on one cheek, we will turn and offer him the other… and if that means death… well… it may be for the greater good.

Again, to me, this is ideal… the truth is, I don’t have all of the answers… I don’t claim to, but this is my conviction, based on what I’ve read in scripture and much prayer and consideration. It’s probably a good thing that my fiance agrees with me on this! This is a solution that will take a lot of faith… I don’t even know if I can follow through, but I certainly hope I would.

(I am contributing to the Xanga Council of Christian Pacifists, which features questions about nonviolence/pacifism, answered by 5 people. It’s in the beginning stages of development, but we’re hoping it will catch on with your help. Come by and start asking questions! Here is my response to the 2nd question.)

“I’m a pacifist because I’m a violent son of a bitch!” -Stanley Hauerwas

He really puts it perfectly, doesn’t he?

As a definition to Christian pacifism/nonviolence, I will leave that up to Dr. Hauerwas too:

“I am a Christian pacifist. Being Christian and being a pacifist are not two things for me. I would not be a pacifist if I were not a Christian, and I find it hard to understand how one can be a Christian without being a pacifist.”

(Stanley Hauerwas)

You see, I don’t believe that “Christian” and “pacifist” should be looked at as two things, either… after all, Christ taught nonviolent methods, telling us “Don’t resist an evil person.” He tells us not to resist… and throughout the entirety of the New Testament, we read about nonviolent ways to solve all of our issues. But our key motivator is Faith… and our supreme reliance is God… exactly how God would want it…

I am a firm believer in the discipline of nonviolence. Of course, I use the term, “pacifist” in fear of splitting hairs. Don’t get me wrong… I think there is a HUGE difference between nonviolence and pacifism (which I will get to), but I prefer to refer (Ha! that rhymed!) to myself as a pacifist. My reasoning is that it is easier to say I am a pacifist that to say I’m nonviolent. I think the term nonviolent just has sort of a snooty sort of vibe to it, so I say, in such an anti-politically correct manner, that I am a pacifist. But when you see me say that I am a pacifist, please don’t misunderstand. I really mean that I am nonviolent.

The difference is GIGANTIC… so big, that I had to spell “gigantic” in all caps. To me, it seems that the term, “pacifist”, paints a picture of a very lazy way of going about problems. There is nothing lazy about nonviolence. First of all, I want to say that I LOVE boxing… Boxing is a very violent sport… so I can’t necessarily say that I am “nonviolent” either. I don’t have a problem with kids playing “superheroes”, I don’t have anything against football, I loved the power rangers growing up… so, I guess I have to say that I am not against all forms of violence… Heck, one of my favorite movies is “Fight Club”. But as for myself, I don’t believe that I should have a reason to ever get violent. And therein lies the difference.

“Pacifism” implies that I do nothing in reaction to a violent (or other) circumstance.
“Nonviolent” implies that I am against all forms of violence

Despite the enormous difference, I still believe it is splitting hairs… so I use the terms interchangeably. The key is to know what I stand for before you assume that I can’t stand violent movies or assume that I will sit and watch my child be killed.

Now, talking about pacifism, I don’t believe in sitting on my behind and doing nothing while the violent world around me closes in quickly, affecting me, my friends, my family, associates, or what have you… but I do believe in the power of prayer, I believe in using words and discernment, and I believe in running. I think that there are many other options one can trust in before he or she has to resort to violence… and sometimes… doing absolutely nothing can do more than anything we can say, do, force, etc… What I believe in, takes faith, knowledge that there is more to life than my temporary problems, and trust in a higher power that will provide the type of justice that I wouldn’t be able to provide. And that is not passive at all.

So in summery, I believe that Christ calls the Christians to a life of nonviolence, I believe that there is a huge difference between being nonviolent and being a pacifist, but not big enough to care which word to use to define my beliefs, and I believe in actions thought out in faith as oppose to a faithless reaction.

 I have a pet boxer puppy…

Her name is Lexi….Well, to tell you the truth, she belongs to my brother, so she isn’t really mine…

Lexi can be fun to have around. She is always the center of attention when new company comes around, she tilts her head when she hears a weird sound that she doesn’t understand, and she still chases her tail, even though it’s been reduced to a stump before we even bought her. It’s funny to watch… and she is the light of my brother’s life right now…

But don’t let the picture fool you, with the sad puppy eyes and the black face with the white around her nose… She might look cute, but she is the devil.

I came home one night from church. I went into my bedroom right away and got online. As I was sitting in my bed, I smelled something… it wasn’t a good smell, but my room was a mess, so I ignored it. But for some reason, I looked down and I saw that the computer cord was in a pile of dog crap… ON MY BED!

Naturally, I was furious. I had just washed the comforter the day before and now I had to wash it again! I cleaned up the dog’s mess and after I threw the comforter into the washer, I paced back and forth, sighing and groaning in frustration and anger. Admittedly, I lost my cool. Everyone in the house laughed at me, not only for my unfortunate circumstance, but also at how I reacted to such a trivial matter.

I got really angry… because for that moment, things didn’t go the way I planned. I wasn’t in control, and my hopes of going to bed warm that night were crushed because my comforter was now in the washer… and by the time I would be in bed, it would have only been in the dryer… It would have never gotten done in time… Then, there is the fact that the dog even came in my room to begin with…. These thoughts took control of my actions… and my emotions caused a reaction that was… well… comical… because I was angry about my discomfort for one night… how stupid is that?

In the Bible, Paul tells us what he went through to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. First of all, Jesus himself blinded Paul for three days… and for three days, he didn’t eat or drink. Later, Paul went through many other dangers. He says in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” Paul says earlier in the letter that “…our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Now wait a minute… Paul said that on five separate occasions, he was flogged 39 times… Back then, they didn’t give you a full 40 lashes because it was said that 40 would kill a person. But what is 39 x 5? 195? That is almost 200 painful lashes across his back. He was beaten with rods three times, he was stoned (until they thought he was dead)… can you imagine the scar tissue Paul would have had to have built up? By the end of his life, Paul probably wasn’t a pretty man. Certainly, he lived a hard life… but that isn’t what Paul thought about. He fixed his eyes on what was unseen… because that was what was eternal. He didn’t look at the afflictions he went through… he didn’t sit there and think, “Oh, Woe is me! I am being bullied by my enemies!” He felt like life was too short to think about those things. Instead, he looked at those as momentary troubles which were achieving an eternal glory that outweighs all the troubles he’s even been through.

I know a man who’s motto is, “In 200 years, it won’t matter.” And my dad always likes to say, “It ain’t nothin’ but a thing…” These are great attitudes when facing hardships or moments of uncomfortably. Why would I get so worked up if the dog takes a fresh dump on my bed? Why should I let that bother me? In light of eternity, it really doesn’t matter, does it? Because all of this… everything that I have here, whether it be my home, my family, my books, my blog, everything I have… it’s all here for a moment… and the discomfort I go through… the pain you go through… all of that will be outweighed by God’s eternal glory when we enter into eternity… and none of it will ever matter…

In light of eternity, does your comfort matter?

I am going to be contributing to the Xanga Council of Christian Pacifists, which will feature questions about nonviolence/pacifism, answered by a few different people. It’s in the beginning stages of development, but we’re hoping it will catch on with your help. Come by and start asking questions! Here is my response to the first question.


I look at nonviolence as a discipline, much like prayer, meditation, reading the bible, or silence. But as complex as the answer might be to some people, to me, it is really quite simple.

Look at it this way: it is hard to live a life of redemptive violence when we look at the fruit of the spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. It seems impossible to be acting out the fruit of the spirit and live a life, believing in some sort of redemptive violence.

Jesus clearly tells us not to resist those who do evil to us. He instructs us to turn the other cheek and to pray for those who persecute us. He tells us to love our enemies and not to live by the sword… because if we live by the sword, we will die by the sword… He told that to his friend, Peter… after Peter was defending Jesus.

All in all, I truly believe that every reaction to an act of violence or an act of redemption must be prayerfully thought out…. because vengeance doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to God, and only his justice will reign.

Let me paint a scenario. Say my father was murdered in cold blood… in a jealous rage. Nothing can excuse the fact that some crazy man murdered my father. Now, as an act of vengeance, I would want my dad’s death to be avenged. But in all reality, giving that man who murdered my father the death penalty would solve nothing… it’s just killing a man who needs help. It would not make me feel better to murder that man… it would not bring my dad back from the dead… The only sensible thing to do is forgive him… because forgiveness is justice, and with true justice, comes healing. It’s the Hebrew word, Mishpat. Healing that comes from God’s justice, or justice that comes through God’s healing… it works both ways. It seems to me that the best way to heal, both yourself and the offender, is through forgiveness. When we choose to forgive and not fight back, we are acting separate from the world. Anyone can strike back… but it takes someone very special to forgive in such a horrible circumstance… but that is what we are called to do… to be a light in the darkness; the light of the world.

Shalom

Here is a question that’s been plaguing my mind… it’s been gnawing at my brain ever since I came to the conclusion that Jesus wants us to take his ideas seriously…

What if we really believed in the power of the Holy Spirit?
Maybe we do… Perhaps the better question is, why don’t we trust the Holy Spirit?

Is it because we can’t see Him? Is it because He is so unpredictable? Is it because we know that when we submit ourselves to Him, He will, more than likely, pull us out of our comfort zone? Nobody wants to think a different way… nobody wants to leave something they have been so comfortable with for so long…

I don’t have an answer to this question… but I do know that in everything I do, I want to trust God… and I believe I can start by looking at what He instructs us to do and by looking at the examples of those who have trusted him.

Someone once said… I don’t remember the context or who said it, but this is what was said,
“If it wasn’t for pacifists, there would have never been martyrs of the early church.”

I, personally, think that the word, “pacifism” is thrown around too much… Maybe I should stick with the term “nonviolent”… The wrong wording can make the connotation that a “pacifist” sits on his lazy butt and doesn’t do anything to help a potentially dangerous problem. I don’t believe in that. A person would have to be insane to believe in that! But what I do believe in, is letting a higher power do the dirty work.

I will explain…

We read in the book of Acts that Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”, was about to be killed for telling the people about Jesus. I love this story because you can really see and feel all of the emotions from everyone involved. For instance, we have Stephen, glowing with a face like an angel, telling the entire history of Judaism, tying it all into how Jesus was the Messiah, who was God on earth. Yelling before the Sanhedrin, telling them that they have uncircumcised hearts and ears… shaming them for denying the Holy Spirit…
Then, the members of the Sanhedrin… gnashing their teeth, covering their ears, yelling at the top of their lungs… you can really feel the anger…

And all while this was going on, Stephen had a vision and said, “Look! I see heaven, open… and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

This made the matter worse. The members of the Sanhedrin and those who didn’t believe Stephen, began to stone him. As rocks and boulders were being chucked his way, Stephen prayed, “God, receive my spirit! Lord, DO NOT hold this sin against them!”

What we have here, is a perfect example of how we should act when we are being attacked. Stephen stated his purpose, did not back down, did not resist, and asked God to forgive those who were doing wrong to him. Then he was killed, in a way that brought glory to God. Was he afraid? We will never know… but one thing we do know is that if he was, he looked past his fears and saw Christ… “standing at the right hand of God.”

Notice, Stephen didn’t see Jesus “sitting at the right hand of God”… that is normally what the bible says… The son of man would sit at the right hand of God… No no no… Jesus was on his feet as Stephen was handing a horrible situation over to Him. Stephen was not alone when he was being killed. Christ was there, on his feet, standing up for Stephen. And all Stephen asked was two unselfish things… that his spirit be taken… and his enemies forgiven…

He didn’t fight back… but we know who won the spiritual battle that day… and it was won through the action of prayer… Because Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, knew that there was a better way to defend himself than to resist violence.

I am thinking about starting an online journal. I will put together the words “web” and “log” and call it a weblog… because that’s clever… and then I’ll just call it a blog for short. How long do you think this will take to catch on?

This is my beautiful fiance, Tesia (name pronounced Tesha).
She is 22 years old and is currently enrolled in seminary at United Theological Seminary… She is actually attending the same seminary Omarosa (The Apprentice) is attending.

I have a billion pet peeves…
1.) Rushing me- I can’t stand it when I am in the middle of doing something and I have somebody over my shoulder, breathing heavily, telling me I need to hurry up… It really does nothing for me but get me frustrated. I am more motivated by encouragement…
2.) People who don’t know how to eat with a fork- I’m not talking about Asian’s and their chopsticks… This pet peeve of mine makes chopsticks look like a blessing… Anyway, you know the sound of metal sliding against a person’s teeth? It’s like nails on a chalkboard to me… Never ever EVER slide your teeth on your fork! Ooh… I have the chills thinking about it…
3.) Talking with your mouth full- I’m not really bothered by seeing the food in a person’s mouth… but I have this paranoia… I always feel like food will fly out and hit me in the face… GROSS! I also like to hear what a person is saying when they are talking… chewing with your mouth full doesn’t only make it hard to understand what you are saying, it also is quite distracting…

I have 999,999,997 more pet peeves….

Two years ago today, I asked my best friend to marry me. It was the best, most risky decision I have ever made. Here’s a repost from two years ago. Enjoy

Shalom!

So, my best friend lives an hour away from me. She’s a great girl, so much cooler than anyone I’ve ever known. Actually, she and I have had an on again off again relationship for the last 6 years.

(Young Love…)

I don’t want to get into details about the reasons why we were on again/off again so much… but I do want to explain that up until yesterday, we were in the “off again” time in our relationship… That is, until I decided to be a man for once in my life…

Last night, I decided to go talk to her… again, she lives an hour away from me. Actually, she just started seminary. There is a convent for nuns not too far away from the campus… she stays with them. So, I drove to the convent. Upon arrival, a nun greeted me.
“Can I help you, son.”
“You sure can. I came to visit a friend of mine,” I explained.
“Is she a sister here,” the nice lady asked.
“No. She is actually a student at the seminary. She just lives here,” I said
The nun said, “Oh, not a problem. I’ll get her for you. What’s her name?”
“It’s Tesia.”
“Oh, ok… let me get her.”

A few moments later, I saw a beautiful figure coming my way. Her head was looking down and tilted somewhat to the side, with a shy grin on her face… as if she were masking her excitement to see me.

(Sharing a shake)

I greeted her and told her she looked beautiful. She asked me what I wanted to do and I said, “Let’s walk around.” So she was showing me around the convent…. but soon, we ran out of places to go.
She asked, “What do we do now?”
“Let’s go for a walk outside,” I suggested.

So we began to walk outside… she was a little nervous because it was a rough area in the neighborhood. I promised her she would be fine though…
But as we were walking in the dark (It was about 9:00 at night by this time), I was telling her about what I was reading in Donald Miller’s new book (Donald Miller is her favorite author… and the book hasn’t come out yet… but I got it from my cousin who got it for free so he could do a book review on it). We began walking through a cemetery for nuns… Neither one of us knew it was there… But there, in that cemetery, I was explaining how “story” is important to our lives… it makes life less boring when you look back on it. We have so many little details in life that get looked over, but the truth is, they make us who we are… So when we have our ups and downs, it is really just showing a story in development… because a story would be boring if there is no conflict to overcome.
I went on to say how God is the greatest story writer… and that she and I are two characters of a great story who have been through so much together… and it is our job to make sure this story has a happy ending.  We walked right outside the cemetery and I said, “Tesia… I want to be in this story with you.”
She put her head down and tilted her head to the side again, with the same smirk she had earlier in the night when I first came to visit her… only this time, there were tears in her eyes.
I lifted her chin up with my hand so she was able to look in my eyes. She kissed me, and I kissed her a second time and I said, “Tesia… what would you think of that?”
“I would like that…” she started to trail off.

I got on one knee and looked up and I said,

“Tesia Lee Sheffield, will you marry me?”
“Yes, James Cecil Mallory! Yes I will marry you!”

(my bride, me, and my best man)

Needless to say, I was excited. We celebrated by calling all of our friends to tell them the good news… and we ate at Waffle House… Today she and I went to a jewelry store to pick out a ring that she would like…

I’m looking forward to seeing where our story takes us….

Mr. and Mrs. Mallory

Months ago, a friend and I were talking about things that are happening in Sudan and why the US Government and the United Nations as a whole refuse to do anything about it.

Her argument was that it is the duty of the US to go in and give a little leverage to those who are being persecuted in Sudan, simply because, well, we are the bigger more frightening country… and with great power comes great responsibility. I challenged her on this… First of all, I do agree something needs to be done, but why the government? All that we could do is get the UN to put sanctions on the Sudanese. Soon enough, the sanctions will be violated. Then what? More sanctions? Eventually, it will lead to war. Mass destruction of many Sudanese, both the persecutors and those whom are being persecuted, death to Americans, the killing of many lives, innocent or not.

By going in with weapons, we are saying that violence solves all of the Earth’s problems, when in reality, it created the problem to begin with. It just becomes a giant cultural misunderstanding. Either way, people will be killing for something they strongly believe in. For the US, it’s Democracy. It’s Freedom. For the Sudanese, it’s a completely different way of life. The rebel groups in Sudan don’t agree with that way, so they too, are fighting for a different way of life. The US, believing in a free state, would naturally side with the rebels… But is it right, simply because that is the way the US as a whole sees it? Because that’s the way we were brought up? If so, that is mighty arrogant for the US to say.

Now I’m not saying it isn’t worth fighting for freedom in Sudan. I just think there are better ways to fight and a better freedom to fight for. We shouldn’t be sending men, armed with guns and bombs into Sudan. We shouldn’t be sending soldiers into Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, China, North Korea, Canada, or Great Britain! No… We should be sending men and women armed with the sword of the spirit, armored in the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness, belted in truth shielded in faith and standing firm in shoes fitted specifically for our readiness which comes through the gospel of peace. And guess what… our bomb… it’s prayer.

The top three reasons Americans enlist in the military are:
1.) They can’t afford college
2.) They are looking for discipline
3.) They are interested in protecting the American values

It’s so easy to jump into the military if you have no where else to go, whether you are looking for discipline or school, yet, it’s so hard for us to teach the word of God where it could be the most dangerous… I say enough of this.

Keeping this in mind, I have a solution. A vision and a call for the church:

Don’t prepare your children for the military, where they teach an eye for an eye. Where they view redemptive violence as justice. Keep justice for God, because with God’s justice comes healing. Act in mercy and prepare your children for the mission field. Don’t prepare your children to defend the American way of life, but prepare them to fight for the Christian way of life. Brothers and sisters, our churches can afford this if we act together… because nothing will change unless God unhardens the hearts of those who’s hearts have been hardened. It doesn’t take violence. But it does take the Holy Spirit, who happens to be our very best weapon.

Join me in this revolution, and let’s send out those who want to teach the good news of Jesus Christ! It is only the Love of God, the love of our neighbors, and the love of our enemies that can really win any kind of war, because behind anything so terrible, there is a spiritual war which we must fight first.