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Rid Yourself of All Such Things As These
Brian Mashburn
July 8, 2012
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The End of Violence Within
There is a political and ideological war raging as strong as ever in our country between the "pacifist" (or non-violent) crowd and the "violent resistance" crowd. Both sides appeal to the Bible generally, and Jesus in particular, as their allies in the argument.
Personally, I find myself solidly in the middle. I like the idea of non-violence in the world, but I'm scared if non-violence became some kind of legalistic rule that was demanded of all Christians. This is one area where on paper I'm willing to lean one way, but in practice, I'm willing to lean another.
It is refreshing, however, to find Paul listing things from the "violence" family that I can condemn both in theory and in practice. He says, "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips." (Colossians 3:8)
No matter what your politics or practices, we can all agree that no violence should be motivated by anger, rage, or malice. And we can all agree that the practices of slander and filthy language are unnecessary.
And worse - they are not becoming of anyone called a child of God. These sins are so accepted that they are rarely used as scales measuring the converted.
As Paul says, let us rid ourselves of these. What will it take?