Discussion Questions

Dean says critics often “attempt to make a case to show why the Scriptures simply can’t be saying what they are obviously saying”; where have you seen that impulse in your own thinking or church culture, and what does it reveal about what we’re trying to protect? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where have you seen yourself or your church try to explain away what Scripture seems to plainly say? What do you think you were trying to protect?

The “what if” questions are framed as only two options—“defense (killing)” or “non-defense (do nothing)”—and Yoder calls that “wildly illogical”; what real-life third options did the lesson name (prayer, fleeing, putting yourself in harm’s way), and which of those feels most costly or least believable to you? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Besides “kill” or “do nothing,” what other options did the lesson name (prayer, running away, stepping in to protect)? Which one feels hardest for you to accept or do?

In the skit, the non-resistant argues that “hypothetical questions will get you hypothetical answers” and that the questioner is “painting me in a corner”; how do you discern when a “what if” scenario is a sincere moral concern versus a rhetorical trap meant to make Jesus’ teaching seem impossible? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How can you tell when a “what if” question is an honest moral worry versus a trap meant to make Jesus’ teaching look impossible?

David Bercot’s reversal asks whether Americans would let their families be harmed rather than betray their country, then asks why loyalty to Jesus would be treated differently; what does that comparison expose about competing allegiances in modern Christianity, especially when “family values” collide with Jesus’ commands? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does Bercot’s comparison reveal about what people may be more loyal to than Jesus? What happens when “family values” clash with Jesus’ commands?

Origen claims Christians help kings more than soldiers because “our prayers defeat all demons who stir up war,” and Tertullian piles up massive claims about what prayer does; how would early Christians’ confidence in prayer confront the way many modern believers talk about “realistic” solutions, and what would have to change for us to pray like that? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How would the early Christians’ strong trust in prayer challenge what we call “realistic” solutions today? What would need to change for us to pray with that kind of confidence?

The story of Bishop Cyril of Bulgaria describes Christians physically standing in front of Nazi power and identifying with Jews using Ruth’s words (“Where you go, I will go…”); what does that story teach about God’s heart and the church’s calling that goes beyond “not killing,” and what would “standing in the way of evil” look like in your city? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does the story of Bishop Cyril standing with the Jews teach about what God cares about and what the church is called to do beyond “not killing”? What could “standing in the way of evil” look like in your city?

Dean insists Ephesians 6 means “we do fight” but “not against flesh and blood”; what practices in your life actually target “principalities and powers” rather than people, and how might your church be unintentionally training you to fight the wrong enemies? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If we fight “not against flesh and blood,” what habits in your life actually fight evil powers instead of people? How might your church be training you to aim at the wrong enemy?

Charles Moore argues a “prophetic church” confronts culture primarily by “demonstrating a better way” (marriage faithfulness, support for expectant mothers, racial repentance, etc.); which example in that quote most exposes a gap between what your church condemns publicly and what it actually practices communally? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Which example (faithful marriages, helping pregnant moms, racial repentance, etc.) most shows a gap between what your church speaks against and what it actually lives out together?

The lesson pushes to the “deep end” where the final “what if” is that you die, calling the cross the Christian’s “most formidable instrument of force”; how does that claim redefine “winning” in situations like home invasion, persecution, or national crisis, and what in you resists calling death-for-faithfulness “freedom”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If the cross means being willing to die, how does that change what “winning” means in a home invasion, persecution, or a national crisis? What in you resists seeing death for faithfulness as real freedom?

Dean ties end-times perseverance to Revelation’s marks—“keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” “he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword,” and “they loved not their lives unto the death”—and ends with Napoleon’s line that millions would die for Christ; what would need to be true about God (His love, sovereignty, reward, presence) for you to honestly answer Dean’s closing question: “Are you one of them?” JumpstartAnother way to ask: What would you need to believe about God—his love, control, reward, and nearness—to honestly answer, “Would I be willing to die for Christ?”