Nonviolence is A Lutheran Ethic

I have shared on this blog a lot of the stuff that I have written for my contemplation and work with nonviolence. So I thought you'd enjoy the last paper that I wrote this semester:

NONVIOLENCE IS A LUTHERAN ETHIC
By Betsy Dreier

I love Lutheran theology, it just resonates with me quite well. It explains the world that we live in quite well I think. However, I have often struggled with wanting to do things that makes the world a better place when Lutheran theology stresses that there is not anything that we need to do to receive salvation from God. Yet this semester, in reflecting over the principles of nonviolence and what it really does mean to be Lutheran, I have found them to be quite compatible with each other.

In the Pace e Bene Engage book, it starts out by saying that “nonviolence does not assume that we live in a nonviolent world.” Yet nonviolence is something that we can and should totally aspire for. One of the central theological principles of Lutheranism is that everyone is a sinner, and yet there is nothing we can do to atone for our own sins. This is something that God takes care of for us through the gift of the Son, Jesus Christ who atones for our sins. The question that can come about from this then is how is this linked to nonviolence? The thing is that no one is ever going to be completely nonviolent, because we live in a violent world.
Our world is based on so much violence and social inequality that no one is able to completely break free from it. We can, and should become more conscious of it and try to make choices that are loving and nonviolent whenever possible, however, no one is going to ever live up to this perfectly. For example, as I reflect on my own life, the decision to be a seminary student and to work in the church is a decision that I have made to try to work and make this world a better place. However, I am not making any money at this point in my life right now because of these decisions. As a result, when I do need to make decisions about my expenses, the question of what kind of product is the cheapest for me to buy often becomes the central question instead of what is the most sustainable option for me to do. Another example that to work at a church that is very socially aware in Oakland, I have to drive from Berkeley on a regular basis when I am aware of the ecological crisis that our world is facing. These are the examples of the way in which violence is really ingrained in the context of our society and that even though I am aware of the consequences of my actions from an ecological and economical perspective, I seriously am not sure if I am able to escape from these social ills in which that I am aware of. This makes me think that violence is not dissimilar from the notions of sin, as one of the beautiful prayers in the Lutheran hymnal says, “we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.” This is similar to Luther’s notion of sin and how we are never able to fully escape it on our own accord. It is through the grace of Jesus Christ in which we are free from it, not on our own account. There is a lot of violence in the world that we live in.

I find it incredibly helpful to look at violence from the perspective of sin. It is one of the ways in which we are often sinning. Repeatedly, in all of the literature that I read this semester, one of the main ways in which violence begins or is communicated, is through not looking at another person as another human being who deserves respect. It is the dehumanizing of another person or the disrespect of another person that is what causes violence in our world. Even in being aware of this and wanting to break free from this kind of cycle, no one is able to live up to this perfectly. It can be because of just trying to survive and to take care of yourself, it can be because of the ways in which lives become busy, and the list can go on and on. I think that people can become a lot more aware of the ways in which they are perpetuating violence and to try to live nonviolently, but no one is able to break free from this completely.

In Lutheran circles, talking about nonviolence sometimes makes people feel very nervous however. They really do understand the notions that we are sinners quite well, I think most people would totally agree with me that violence can be equated with sin. However, what makes people feel nervous in discussing this in the realm of Lutheran theology is that there is the fear that the message that it is what God does for us that atones for our sins, which is central to Lutheran theology, would be lost. I have met people who fear that this could become a way in which salvation has to be earned, and not a gift from God. Also, parts of the Book of Concord, which are the collection of documents in which the Lutheran church is theologically based on can be cited in support of not necessarily wanting to adopt views of nonviolence. In one of the documents, called the Augsburg Confession, it reads that “Christians are permitted to…impose just punishments, to wage just war, to serve as soldiers.”[1] This is a message that has been used in skepticism towards nonviolence.

I would argue, however, that this is a misunderstanding of what nonviolence is. I would also argue that this is a misunderstanding of the Lutheran way of living, which is quite compatible with notions of nonviolence.

When people hear that I have been doing this work with nonviolence, I have often gotten the questions similar to “if someone broke into your house what would you do then to protect yourself and your family?” In working on the nonviolent stories project, this was a question that John Cummings even said that he had frequently received from people when telling them the kind of work that he was doing with Pace e Bene. (I may have even been one of the people asking him a question like this at one point in time as I was trying to understand what he was doing). In asking this kind of question, a misconception of nonviolence that is portrayed is this: that nonviolence is about being passive, that nonviolence is allowing for injustices to occur.
The actual truth is that nonviolence is about being active, and is very concerned with justice. Gandhi is a very important person to study in light of understanding nonviolence. He has this notion of satyagraha. Some of the principles of this is the power of truth and self suffering. But the point of it is to win over the opponent and to transform society. Actually in notions of satyagraha there is no room for cowardly behavior and injustice? In fact, Rynne points out in his book . Gandhi and Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence that “Gandhi maintained that it was better to be violent than to be a coward, while always maintaining the superiority of nonviolence.”

In these notions of nonviolence that are important to consider, there is plenty of room for justice. In fact, nonviolence is supposed to be addressing issues that are related to justice. And justice acts out of love. Repeatedly this semester, I came across notions that nonviolence is love in action. To really love someone is to speak on behalf of justice on their behalf, not to . To really love someone is to find ways to find ways to work through differences, not to ignore them. This is what nonviolence is about. Nonviolence is not passive, it is active. It is about really loving other people and being concerned about their well being.

This is the point in which these notions of nonviolence really intersect very well with Lutheran theology. God has given us an unconditional act of love by atoning for our sins through the gift of this love through his son Jesus Christ. This love that was given to us must be given to the rest of the world. One of the central points to Lutheran ethics is the love of our neighbor. In his work, The Freedom of A Christian, Martin Luther says that “A Christian lives not in [themselves] but in Christ and in [their] neighbor. Otherwise [one] is not a Christian. [One] lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith [one] is caught up beyond himself into God. By love [one] descends beneath [themselves] into [their] neighbor.” Lutherans are concerned about their neighbor because of the love that God has bestowed to them. Christ died on the cross for the sake of the sins of the world. The Lutheran understanding of this is that this is a gift that has been given to us. There is nothing that we can do for it. This is the ultimate gift of love. There is nothing that needs to be done for this gift at all.

However, since this is the ultimate gift, this is a gift that needs to be shared with the world. This is shared with acting as loving as possible to our neighbor. This is done by speaking up for injustice on our neighbor’s behalf. This is done by respecting our neighbor for who they are and understanding and reconciling differences. This is done by being aware of how our day to day actions really do effect the people who are surrounding us. While this is not the point in which we obtain salvation, it is a way in which the salvation that we have received is shared to the rest of the world.

Love in action that Lutherans are called to live out to the world is nonviolence. However, as I said earlier everyone is a sinner. This world is not exempt from violence by any means. We will always be plagued by violence in this world. No one is ever going to be able to escape notions of sin, which are also notions of violence fully. The good news is that God had given the gift of his son, Jesus to liberate us from these sins. However these are not excuses for being apathetic to violence in this world or not trying to change our ways. Rather, it should be an excuse for intentionality and trying to live differently because of what has been done for us through the gift of Jesus Christ. As nonviolence really uplifts notions of love and justice, so do does Lutheran theology. Knowing this gift that God has given us, we are to reach out in love to the rest of the world with a sincere love and concern for our neighbor. This ethic is actually identical to the notions of what nonviolence is truly about. Nonviolence really is a Lutheran ethic!