Defending defenseless Christians

"Climb up your golden height, champion of the band of holy souls, who followed God’s red banner of blood, in oppression and in the midst of misery, where naught but the smoke and vapor of human burnt sacrifices ascended to the clouds; yet thou, hero, didst go before them, yea, didst fight thy way through the straight gate to the wide heaven."

Thieleman J. van Braght, the Anabaptist compiler of Martyrs Mirror, the book which contains the stories of thousands of Christian martyrs, penned those words on July 27, 1659 in his introduction to this historic book. The full title to the work is The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians Who Baptized Only Upon Confession of Faith, and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus, Their Saviour, From the Time of Christ to the Year A. D. 1660. Did you catch that one phrase? "Defenseless Christians." The above quote, and the entire book, depicts the lives and deaths of the many Christians who lived and died as a testimony to their God as defenseless Christians. This idea of Christian defenselessness (or "nonresistance," from Matthew 5:39), was a thread that ran through the history of the Mennonite church from its origins until… Until when? Is that belief in nonresistance still with us?

I believe that this thread which once defined the identity of Anabaptists is now being sawed at with the blade of secularist pacifism, the zealous and outwardly noble task to achieve world peace by overthrowing evil institutions and marching proudly under the banner of "peace and justice."

Is this pacifism what our Anabaptist forefathers envisioned? More importantly, is it what Jesus had in mind when he told his disciples to take up the cross and follow him, after which the evil institution, the Roman government, drove spikes into his hands and feet? The "peace and justice" that Jesus proclaimed while he dwelt in the flesh was not one of telling the government to cease its acts of oppression. His was a defenseless life that was ultimately scorched under the hand of an unjust system, then to rise triumphantly three days afterward.

The government, contrary to what some Mennonites today believe, does not bear the sword in vain (Romans 13:4). It is ordained to keep order, to "bring punishment on the evildoer." The Christian, on the other hand, fills a different role. The Christian can act as a disciple of Christ only after recognizing Jesus as the Son of God and the means by which we receive redemption. The government is not Christian (it is not composed of regenerate individuals), and therefore cannot be expected to operate under Christian principles (I Corinthians 2:14).

The Christian’s task is one of imitating Christ; this includes demonstrating nonresistance. Why is this such an important principle for the Christian to follow? Because the Christian’s life is to be a reflection of the life of Christ. Moreover, it should be a life that points to the climactic event on Calvary where Christ’s blood opened the way for us to boldly come into the Father’s presence. May all of us speak words, suffer injustices, and live holy lives in such a way as to point others to the redemption found in Christ. May we, as the Church, Christ’s glorious Bride, strive to live lives of which the following words of van Braght may be said:

"The dreadful sacrificial fire, the shining stakes, the shame which Zion suffers, could neither disturb nor hinder God’s chosen people… until a burning flame had consumed their bodies whereby their souls found refreshing with God."

David can be reached at david.schrock@emu.edu for further discussion.