Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 10
The speaker calls non-resistance “to prefer to die oneself rather than to kill another person,” ties it to kingdom citizenship (“my kingdom is not of this world”), and then indicts Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant histories of war—ending with modern Orthodox urging war against fellow Orthodox; what would it look like, concretely, for your loyalties to shift so the kingdom of God becomes your “nationality” first, and what costs (relationships, career, security, reputation) would that require you to accept?
Another way to ask: The speaker says non-resistance means you would rather die than kill, and that God’s kingdom should come before national loyalty. What would it look like for God’s kingdom to become your main “nation,” and what real costs would that bring to your relationships, job, safety, or reputation?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Concretely, the transcript points toward refusing retaliation and refusing participation in violence or war because Christians are citizens of God’s kingdom first. The cost, in the speaker’s framing, is being willing to “lose our lives,” accept suffering, and possibly stand against powerful national and church pressures.
- He defines non-resistance as choosing “to suffer wrong oneself rather than to harm another,” even preferring “to die oneself rather than to kill another person.”
- He ties identity to kingdom citizenship: our “nationality is with the kingdom of God first” rather than a “kingdom of this world.”
- He quotes Jesus: “do not resist the one who is evil…turn…the other [cheek]…love your enemies,” and says we must “listen to his command.”
- He quotes Paul: “repay no one evil for evil…never avenge yourselves…overcome evil with good.”
- He quotes Jesus to Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world…my servants would have been fighting,” using it to rule out violent methods.
- He concludes servants of God “must not take up arms, whether for personal protection or for war,” and says we must be “willing to lose our lives in the process.”