Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 6 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
Radical Reformation History  /  Lecture 1: Introduction to Anabaptist History  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 6
Dean’s Berlin Wall story hinged on the question, “What changed?”—last year he could have been ordered to shoot the man who this year called him “my brother in freedom and peace.” How does that illustration challenge trust in earthly kingdoms and national narratives, and what does it imply about the stability and seriousness of the category “enemy” for a follower of Jesus?
Another way to ask: How does Dean’s Berlin Wall story make you question trusting nations and their stories about who is good or bad? What does it say about calling someone an “enemy” if you follow Jesus?

Direct Answer Dean’s illustration challenges confidence in earthly kingdoms by showing how quickly political categories shift: yesterday’s “enemy” becomes today’s friend through decisions far above ordinary people. For a follower of Jesus, the category “enemy” becomes unstable and morally dangerous, because Christ’s kingdom has already “knocked down” deeper walls and calls even enemies to be treated differently.

Support from Transcript:

  • In 1989 at the Wall, former enemies “putting their hands through the holes… handing champagne… saying, ‘My brother in freedom and peace.’”
  • Dean’s stunned question: “What changed? Last year, I could have been called on to shoot this guy. This year, he’s kissing me.”
  • His answer: “A few politicians got together in Washington and Moscow and Berlin. And suddenly, my enemy is my friend.”
  • He says “that bothered me,” pushing him to think “about the kingdoms of this earth in a lot different way.”
  • He connects it to Jesus’ kingdom: Christ’s kingdom “was beyond all these things. It had already knocked down all those walls.”
  • Even if they weren’t believers, he concludes “even my enemies” are “not… someone to be shot.”
Discussion Follow-ups What national stories have shaped who you think your “enemies” are? How might Jesus’ command to love enemies reframe the way Christians speak about other nations or political groups?

Jumpstarter 6 of 10
Back Questions Next