Jumpstarter 8 of 10

Direct Answer Bercot’s examples confront patriotic and “just war” language by showing how easily Christians baptize Caesar’s wars as God’s will, even encouraging killing fellow Christians, which he calls a direct insult to Christ’s kingship and a denial of Jesus’ enemy-love. If he’s right, repentance would mean rejecting war-making, refusing to treat military service as kingdom service, and returning to Jesus’ commands to love enemies and be peacemakers.

Support from Transcript:

• He frames the conflict of loyalties: if we kill fellow Christians for earthly conflicts, we’re saying our earthly nation has “ultimate allegiance,” not Jesus’ kingdom.
• He calls that “an insult…a slap in the face” to relegate Jesus behind Caesar.
• He cites Billy Sunday telling men they could be “saved by dying in battle” and calling non-enlisters “God forsaken mutts,” which Bercot says were kingdom Christians.
• He cites Lyman Abbott: “Every Christian church should be a recruiting office for the kingdom of God,” and Bercot explains Abbott meant the American army; he asks, “Is America the Kingdom of God?”
• He quotes Jesus’ commands: “not to resist an evil person,” “turn the other,” “love your enemies…pray for those…who persecute you,” and “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
• He says early Christians concluded, “we can’t go to war,” and that clarity was lost when “church and state joined together in the fourth century.”