Edgework

For nearly 500 years Anabaptists have advocated the way of peace as an ethic for all followers of Christ.  Nonviolence was a central tenet of their movement which burst onto the European scene in 1525.

By reclaiming the position taught in the New Testament, Anabaptists insisted that all true Christians were called to live by the example and teaching of Christ. The prevailing sentiments of the established churches at that time contrasted sharply with this idea. Catholic teaching held that the Jesus way was mandated only for clergy and Protestants said that it was intended as a guide for one’s personal life, not for fulfilling public duty.

Anabaptists pointed to the position taken by many early church fathers in advocating for a nonviolent approach to life. Justin Martyr (A.D. 114 – 162) wrote: “We have changed our weapons of war – swords into plowshares and spears into agricultural implements.” Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 211-216) wrote: “We are trained in peace, not war. War needs great preparation but peace and love require no arms nor excessive outlay.”

This orientation changed dramatically in the fourth century when the church and state joined forces to jointly build the great Christian society.

Like early Christians, Anabaptists came to understand that all of the Bible must be read through the lens of Jesus Christ. That is to say that Jesus is the focal point of biblical revelation. Old Testament records demonstrate how God picked up a specific people where they were at and gradually moved them toward a fuller revelation in Jesus Christ.

It also means that Paul, and other New Testament writers, far from creating their own formulations, were in fact fleshing out the vision of the Kingdom of God, rooted in the way of peace Jesus had come to inaugurate.

The Anabaptist witness to the non-violent way of Jesus has taken many forms over the past five centuries.

Some groups have chosen the path of withdrawal from the world, often brought on by severe persecution. Such Anabaptists focus on being “non-resistant” when they are persecuted and see their life “apart from the world” as the light that shines “into the world.”

Other Anabaptists are more proactive in the world where they counter worldly violence with alternative patterns of life and witness. They see themselves as “peace makers” in the context of a violent world.

The common denominator in all these groups is that they believe that Christians should abstain from violence and live by the ethic of love in all relationships.

One motivation among Anabaptists for avoiding violence is their vision of the universal nature of the church. It is inconceivable to them that Christian soldiers from one country would participate in killing fellow Christians in another country.

In 1984 John Stoner, Executive Secretary for MCC Peace Section in the USA for many years, proposed what he called, “a modest proposal for peace.” He said, “Let the Christians of the world agree that they will not kill each other.”

Another Anabaptist impulse for sidestepping violence is the biblical mandate to make disciples around the world.  As evangelist and theologian, Myron S. Augsburger, has observed, “It is counter-productive in our evangelistic task to kill the very people we are trying to win to Christ.”

Palmer Becker states that the center of our work as Christians is reconciliation. However, to accomplish this task, “…we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world” (2 Corinthians 19:3-4).

Throughout their 500-year history some Anabaptists have abandoned the way of peace. Sometimes it has been a response to intense persecution. At other times the allurement of a faith position more attuned to majority sentiments and a less costly discipleship has taken its toll.

It seems that the Anabaptist groups advocating withdrawal from the world are best able to maintain a “non-resistant” position, especially as it relates to war. However, they do often struggle with the way of peace in personal relationships in their church communities and with outsiders.

Those Anabaptists who attempt to remain “in the world” to bear witness to the way of peace sometimes lose their focus and end up joining churches that do not have a peace emphasis.

And then, not infrequently, Anabaptist churches gradually push their non-violent stance to the periphery of their Christian world view. Many such churches, therefore, are Anabaptist in name only. In reality they have become part and parcel of main-line evangelicalism.

There is irony in the fact that while many Anabaptists are abandoning their roots as non-violent agents of the Kingdom of God, many thoughtful people in other faith traditions are beginning to discover and embrace the understanding that peace lies at the heart of the Christian gospel.

This situation is bitter-sweet for those Anabaptists eagerly pursuing the way of peace. On the one hand, there is sadness that so many of their fellow pilgrims are forsaking Anabaptist understandings. On the other hand, there is great rejoicing that the seeds sown by many generations of Anabaptist witnesses are bearing fruit in other church communities world-wide.

Those among us who still carry within our bosoms the vision of the gospel of peace feel it is time to reaffirm the biblical and Anabaptist ideals of peacemaking as a way of life. We are not content to simply drop the peacemaking baton and allow others to pick it up in our place. We desire to rejuvenate our vision for peace as well as work together with those discovering it all around the world.

While this renewal may take various forms, one of them has arisen recently in the area of Steinbach, Manitoba. A concerned group of Anabaptists is in the process of planning to erect a monument to peace at the Mennonite Heritage Village in that city. The vision is to create a destination point on the museum grounds conducive to reflecting upon and promoting the biblical vision of peace.