Hello, my friends,

I want to thank you all so much for your kind and thoughtful messages to my last newsletter. Not only did you offer your prayers and support, but you shared your stories of what makes you exhausted in our world today as well. I am so thankful for this community.

Today, I wanted to invite us to think about something I hear almost daily on social media. Whenever I post about Jesus’ call to love our neighbor or to have greater compassion towards all people, I will receive several messages and comments about how "Jesus didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword of division." They will go on to tell me that division is what Christians need to be about today in our world of evil, rather than peacemaking. I am sure I am not the only one who has heard this kind of thing before, so I thought it would be helpful to talk about today, especially in our divisive world.

But before we get into that, here are a few resources for you to consider.

​-Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Unholy War On Democracy. I wanted to be sure to recommend this documentary again. If you haven't yet seen it, it reveals how Christian Nationalist leaders have spread fear and anger for decades, distorting political issues into Biblical battles between good and evil. Financed through the secretive Council for National Policy, Christian Nationalists have succeeded in taking over the Republican Party, turning it into a powerful weapon to demolish democracy from within. In it, you can discover the origins of this organized grasp for power and the grassroots coalition of secular and interfaith leaders bravely confronting the unholy forces threatening democracy. By clicking the link above, you can watch the trailer and find where to see it for free.

​-The Book of Belonging: Bible Stories for Kind and Contemplative Kids by Mariko Clark (Author), Rachel Eleanor (Illustrator). I just picked up this new "kid's Bible" for my kids. I have been so impressed with it so far. The stories are just so beautifully and appropriately told. They also do a wonderful job highlighting the women of scripture. If you have children in your life, this may be something to check out as well.

​11 ways to stop politics from destroying your relationships. by Anna Bonet. I found this article to be brief yet really practical and helpful regarding how to navigate difficult political conversations with our loved ones. You might find it helpful as well.

​-Matthew Taylor on the Violent Take it by Force by Dangerous Dogma Podcast. Matthew Taylor is a scholar with the Institute for Islamic-Christian-Jewish Studies, and in this episode, he talks with Word&Way President Brian Kaylor about his forthcoming book The Violent Take it By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. He also discusses the New Apostolic Reformation, election prophecies, and the Jan. 6 insurrection. It is very illuminating and informative.

Okay, onto today's content.

"I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."​
​

The other day on Facebook, I posted about what the worship of power looks like.​

In response, a person sent me this video and told me she was praying for me to “see the light.” The video went on to tell a familiar narrative that I have heard so often. That God sent Trump not to bring peace, but division in order to reveal God's true believers.

There hasn't been something I have written in the last few months where at least a couple of people responded with this same theme.

They will use Luke 12:49-56 sometimes, like in this video here, but most often it is Matthew 10:34-39. So I wanted to look at that with you today.

First, let’s read the passage: Matthew 10:34-39.

“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, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Now, the context.

At first read, how this passage is being interpreted by those sending it to me seems accurate. Jesus clearly intends division here. You add the word “sword” into the mix and one could even draw a justification for violence in the name of Jesus from his words. Yet, when you look at the context, the intentions behind these words come into focus.

Matthew 10 is Jesus sending out the twelve apostles to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Yet, Jesus is very specefic in “who” he is sendind them to. In verses 5 and 6, Jesus says, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus is sending his followers to their own people. Their own religious group to “proclaim the kingdom of heaven.” That is the context for everything that follows in this chapter.

So, right here, if we are taking this context seriously, this should prevent us Christians from reading this passage as a justification to go cause chaos and division “for Jesus” among people outside of our own religious group. If we take this context seriously, we would go bring this message of Jesus among those who have lost there way within our own religious group and our own churches.

Anyone who has been in ministry or has been in the church for awhile knows how heated things can get when someone wants to change something. When you try to change something in the church, it isn’t the “outsiders” that get upset with you, it is the insiders. Wanting to bring reform in the church often feels like you have brought a sword to peace.

The Sword

This brings us to the sword Jesus is talking about. Any good Greek commentary of Matthew 10:34 will tell you that the word for “sword” here is used as a metaphor for causing quarrels and division, not a literal sword used for violence. The metaphorical interpretation also falls in line with the rest of Jesus ministry where he is constantly teaching nonviolence and even tells his disciples to put their swords away and that those who live by them will die by them.

This “sword” then is meant to be a metaphor for the message he has come to bring. The Greek word for “peace” here in verse 34 is a very specific kind of peace. It is a kind of peace that is experienced by individuals. It not only means “peace of mind” but also harmony and concord between them and other individuals. Jesus asserts that he has not come for this kind of peace among the lost sheep of Israel, but to bring a sword to it instead. A kind of division that would turn even family members against one another, even close relationships like parent and child.

Not the passage militant Christianity thinks it is.

Now, to someone who wants to read this passage as a justification of militant Christianity, that interpretation still seems to fit. Jesus’ message is going to be “offensive, because the truth is offensive” line of thinking. As if to say that if you aren’t being offensive as a Christian in our world today, you are not being truthful. However, this doesn’t fit with the kind of division and conflicts we see in Jesus’ own ministry, which I think is the best place to look if we want to understand what he is talking about here.

Jesus’ harshest words in the gospels were not directed towards “sinners,” outsiders, or “gentiles.” His harshest “sword-like” words were directed towards those who used their religion as a tool of oppression and self serving power. He was always being criticized by the religious hardliners of his day for how loving and forgiving he was to the poor, the outsider, the marginalized, and those considered “unclean sinners.” Jesus didn’t flip tables over in Rome’s public square. No, he went to the center of his own religion, the temple, and flipped over the tables of unjust practices against the poor that were happening there. Jesus was calling for repentance among his own religious group, just like the prophets of the Old Testament had done towards Israel before him.

This brings into focus the very nature of division that his message would cause and why. Jesus was preaching a message of forgivness in a world of high controlling religion. Those who benefitted from this high controlling religion would have great peace of mind and harmony with others who shared their status quo. So imagine how they would feel about the message of someone talking about changing that status quo so that the poor and oppressed would benefit too and the outsiders would also share in that peace too. This would not sit well with those who wished to maintain the power structures they benefited from. This message would be like a sword right through their peace. Those who committed their loyalty to Jesus even above their own family would see division occur right in their own homes, as Jesus said.

When you preach nonviolence in a world of violence, that is going to be really divisive.

When you preach good news for the poor in a world that worships wealth, that is going to be really divisive.

When you preach about sharing equal power with the most vulnerable in a world obsessed with keeping power for itself, that is going to be really divisive.

When you preach about repenting from these things and turning to the way of humility, mercy, forgiveness, grace, generosity, and justice, in a world of arrogance, coercion, malice, cruelty, and judgment, that is going to be really divisive.

When you preach about love in a world of hate, that is going to be really divisive.

In fact, it will be so divisive that it may result in the preacher losing their lives for such a message. The cross was the response to Jesus’ divisive message. Much like the noose was for Dietrich Bonhoeffer who preached such a message to his fellow Christians in Nazi Germany and the bullet was for Martin Luther King Jr. speaking such a message to his fellow Americans. When you tell those in power to stop misusing their power, they may very well misuse that power towards you.

Barbara Brown Taylor captured it well when she said, “Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God’s will from their own."

"And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Jesus

This is why using this passage as a justification for supporting bullies who will cause division and chaos in order to “protect Christianity” is simply misunderstanding and misusing Jesus’ words. It is the exact opposite of that meaning. Jesus is telling bullies to stop being bullies and to love their neighbor as themselves. This message will always be divisive and offensive to bullies.

This passage takes on new significance for many of us Christians who have experienced this kind of division within our churches and even among our own families, as Jesus speaks about here. Where we saw Christianity being hijacked by religious hardliners, authoritarians, and political bullies and we dared to speak out against it saying, “this isn’t the gospel of Jesus.” We resisted such a movement by showing how contrary such behavior is to the teachings of Jesus. This opposition absolutely brought a sword to peace. Many of us lost friends, family members, and even entire church communities because we spoke out against what was happening in our own religious movement. Ironically only to be told that we are the ones who are being “divisive” and have “fallen away” from Jesus.

Many of us are so exhausted and hurt by the kind of Christianity that claims to stand for truth while spreading disinformation.

That claims to love God while demonizing fellow human beings.

That praises bullies while punching down to the vulnerable.

All while demanding that everyone must believe it is following Jesus rather than worshiping power.

We are so exhausted and hurt by the kind of Christianity that claims to follow Jesus who said “love your neighbor” all while advocating politics that proclaim “hate your enemies.”

Jesus accomplished the final victory over our greatest enemy on the cross. Because of this, those who follow him are now set free to see the world as being full of neighbors to be loved rather than full of enemies to be conquered.

Why? Because it was out of love that Jesus came to the world and it was through love that Jesus saved the world. It wasn’t saved through hate, intimidation, or control.

Jesus’ new command he gave his disciples was to “love one another.” That means that the greatest heresy of the Christian faith isn’t unbelief, but cruelty and hatred.

Jesus said that his disciples would be known by their love for others. So if we claim to follow Jesus and are known by our hostility and hatred towards others, we are actively taking Jesus’ name in vain.

If the fruit of our theology and our politics produces misinformation, demonization, bullying, and further marginalization of the vulnerable, we can call it whatever we want, but it has nothing to do with Jesus.

The “division” we are supposed to be causing as followers of Jesus is speaking mercy in a world of cruelty, speaking forgiveness in a world of judgment, speaking compassion in a world of control, and speaking charity in a world of greed. This is what Jesus sends the disciples to do in verse 8, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

In a world where the name of Jesus is being used as a mascot to advocate for the opposite of his teachings, speaking his actual teachings is going to come across as really divisive, but we must speak it, teach it, and live it anyway.

May the love of Jesus be our reputation and may we always oppose the use of Jesus as a mascot for the theology of bullies and the politics of hate.