So the first week of my sunday school class in the books, and the building did not cave in on itself. For those unaware, I'm teaching the adult class at church through September which I entitled, " Be Still: The Book of Exodus and the Origins of Non-Violence." A class I've wanted to teach for years, but now with a greater sense of urgency given we live a world stuck in perpetual violence and chronic selfishness.
I'm not naive enough to think that everyone in the class will fully embrace the lifestyle of non-violence (considering i question my own commitment to non-violence at times). I believe a more worthwhile course for my class is one that challenges our culture's narrow perceptions of violence. Many conversations on violence in America limited themselves to war, terrorism, racism, and gun control.
Yet the virus of violence stands capable of infecting not just our physical environment, but can spread to our emotions and our souls. Whether it be the terrible things we say or the forgiveness we withhold, emotional and spiritual violence are just as dangerous and deadly as the physical violence we can't seem to escape. I would guess that most of us have done more harm with our words than we could ever do with our hands.
Nor do we only perpetrate acts of violence against each other when you consider the thousands that inflict violence upon themselves. In 2013 according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 41,000 people in U.S. committed suicide. In the darkest reaches of the human experience, 41,000 lost all hope and came to believe that doing violence to themselves was the only answer.
Their agony reveals the two greatest lies promoted by charlatans of violence to seduce the world we live in. First, there is no hope. Second, violence is the only answer. If our confession of Christ as Lord is to hold any meaning, then we must declare at the top our lungs that nothing could further from the truth. For there is hope and his name is Jesus Christ. There is another answer to the virus of violence in all its forms. And whether we search the Old Testament or the New Testament, the answer is the same.
In Exodus 14:13-14, Moses answered the fears of the Israelites saying, " Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Similarly in Mark 4:35-41, Jesus addressed the panic of the disciples by rebuking the wind and said to the waves, " Quiet! Be Still." Whether your fears cause to accept or reject the lifestyle of non-violence, may we all at least take time to be still.
CJE