What Christ-Centered Leaders Need to Address Violence

The question regarding the violence we continue to experience is, “Why can’t we stop it?” We want to stop it.  We try, in our own ways, to stop it. But for some reason, we can’t stop the violence. Why can’t we have an impact on the violence in our country and in our communities?

Regarding the recent assassination attempt on former president Trump, we have pointed fingers at the Secret Service. We have politicized the situation and the victims. And as with much evil, there are no easy answers to the questions we are asking, partly because we are not asking the right questions.

So, how do Christ-centered leaders address violence? Let’s use our pattern of Read, Reflect, Respond, and Return to explore one response to “Why can’t we stop the violence?”

Read Matthew 17:14-21

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, ¹⁵ and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has epilepsy and suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” ¹⁷ Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the demon,^[a] and it^[b] came out of him, and the boy was cured from that moment. ¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰ He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a^[c] mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Reflect

The main theme in Matthew’s gospel is that God sent Jesus to teach us how to live before God. As you read Matthew you soon discover that the life we live before God is a holy or righteous life, and that the holiness and righteousness, according to Matthew, is seen in our relationships with God and with one another (neighbor).

This story immediately follows the transfiguration. So, while Jesus is being confirmed as the Son of God his disciples are experiencing a lack of power. Matthew is teaching his community that their power rests in their relationship with Jesus.

The transfiguration story recalls Jesus’ baptism and the voice from heaven designating him both powerful as the Son of God and weak as the Suffering Servant. In this story, Jesus instructs his disciples on the meaning and cost of following him. Their power is in their relationship to him.

The Relationship of Power 

Although his disciples have been commissioned with his power and authority, they are frustrated with their lack of power.  When Jesus arrives to be with them, there is power to heal despite their failure. The primary focus of this story is the relationship of the power of Jesus, the anointed One (Christ), and the disciples’ ministry in the world. In other words, Jesus is with them at the bottom of the mountain in the midst of their service failure (mountain bottom experience) as well as on the top of the mountain in the midst of spiritual exhilaration (mountain top experience).

Jesus is forming a new community of faith against the “perverse generation” of Israel that rejects him. The struggle shown in this scene is between whether the disciples who have identified Jesus and made the correct confession, will become the authentic community Jesus seeks to build. Will they depend upon the power of Jesus, God’s power, or will they regress into “this generation?”

Authority and Power

Jesus had performed exorcisms and healing and had given them authority and power to continue his ministry. But they could not do it with their own power. They only have power when Jesus is with them. They have power when they are in a relationship with Jesus, when they trust God’s love for them and for all others.

So, the question remains, “Why could we not cast it out?”

One of my favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. sermons is, “The Answer to a Perplexing Question” based on Matthew 17:19, “Why couldn’t we cast him out?” In the sermon, King says the problem that has always hampered us is our inability to conquer evil by our own power.  Whether it be political power or value power or emotional power, we have been unable to conquer evil in our society. King then asks the question, “Why can I not cast it out?  Why can I not remove this evil from my life?”

Our Power & God’s Power

King says we have usually pursued two paths to eliminate evil and to save the world.  Using Dr. King’s example, I would say the same when we address ongoing violence.

The first is that we try to remove evil through our own power and ingenuity. It is a strange conviction that by thinking, inventing, and governing, we will conquer the “nagging forces of evil.”

The second idea for removing evil from the world stipulates that if we wait submissively upon the Lord, in God’s own good time, God alone will redeem the world.

King asks, “What then is the answer to life’s perplexing question? How can evil be cast out of our individual and collective lives? If the world is not to be purified by God alone nor by man (human beings) alone, who will do it?”

A Third Way

If we want to move beyond talking about the problem to living out the answer, maybe we need to pursue a third way.

King answers the question this way, “The answer is found in an idea which is distinctly different from the two we have discussed, for neither God nor man (humanity) will individually bring the world’s salvation.”  King says that it will take a partnership between God and humanity, a relationship with God through Jesus. So, what does a partnership between God and humanity look like?

King writes that both God and humanity, made one in a marvelous unity of purpose through an overflowing love as the gift of God and by perfect obedience and receptivity on the part of humanity, can transform the old into the new and drive out the deadly cancer of sin. And yes, it is sin that is at the root of the evil of violence. Sin. The missing the point of God’s love toward all humanity. Sin. The missing the point of God’s power, as seen as strong in Jesus as the Son of God and weak as the Suffering Servant.

Faith Opens the Door

For Dr. King, faith opens the door for God to work through us. The disciples lacked faith when they desperately tried to remove the nagging evil from the body of the sick child (Matthew 17:14-23). Jesus points out what now appears obvious: they had been attempting to do by themselves what could only be done with God. When their lives are open receptacles for God’s strength, they enter a partnership that can move mountains.  

King points out that we cannot remove an evil habit by mere resolution nor by simply calling on God to do the job, but only as we surrender ourselves and become an instrument of God. We can and will find an answer to evil and violence only when we permit the love of God to come into our souls.

Here is where King notes we can find the answer to our perplexing question.  Evil can be cast out. We cannot do it alone and God is not going to do it for us. Evil will be cast out as we open the door and invite God through Christ to enter in. 

To the church of the twenty-first century, the invitation remains: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

Respond

Throughout the day, be aware of your thoughts and emotions. What are the things, events, news stories that trigger anxiety and anger for you? Since you cannot “cast out evil” on your own and God is not going to do it for you, how will you grow in your relationship to God through Jesus today? Be intentional. 

Maybe this week is a good time to begin practicing the means of grace, of developing a pattern for growing inwardly and discovering ways you can live out your faith outwardly. Remember, God is with you. As you grow in your relationship with God, through Jesus, you will have the freedom and power to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves. You will become more who God has created you to be, and who you are is how you lead.

Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness. Joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

-Francis of Assisi

Return

Give God thanks for the people you encountered today. In whom did you see Jesus? How did you address negative thoughts and emotions you had regarding social media stories and reports? How did focusing upon God’s love in your life help you to love others? What did you learn about yourself? What will you do differently tomorrow? Give God thanks for the experiences that help you become who God created you to be. Keep in mind, who you are is how you lead.