When Jesus said, "love your enemies" he didn't mean kill them.

On Monday we spent the day at Freeman Academy in Freeman, South Dakota. Within 8 hours we taught four classes and lead the chapel service, so it was a very busy day.

We volunteered to teach for 30 to 40 minutes in each classroom, which challenged us to turn our hour youth session for youth groups into a shorter classroom teaching. We knew that the students at Freeman Academy would have Bible knowledge and an understanding of an Anabaptist approach to Christianity so we wanted to challenge them. They know about the Bible and they know what it means to be an Anabaptist and peacemaker but could they articulate what they believe about the Bible, peacemaking and Anabaptism when put into a situation that argued against their beliefs?

In each class we had three students volunteer, not knowing what they were getting into for our roll play exercise. As Elizabeth led the three volunteers into the hall I explained to the rest of the class that each volunteer was going to be put into a situation where they would be challenged to talk about their beliefs to a couple of co-workers (played by Matt and Randy). As each volunteer was directed into the classroom Matt and Randy welcomed them to their “first day of work”, and quickly questioned them about a bumper sticker that said, "When Jesus said, 'love your enemies' he didn't mean kill them." The student volunteer was abruptly challenged to state what they believe and why. They didn’t have time to put their thoughts together or sit down and think about it. At that moment they need to give an answer. Matt and Randy did a good job of pushing each volunteer out of their comfort zones.

It was a good exercise for the students. We found that many of the students were able to say whether they agreed or disagreed but it was hard for them to talk beyond that answer. Many were able to define pacifism but struggled to share their own opinions on the subject. Now I am sure that if they would have had longer to think about their beliefs about peace and Jesus and why it is important (or not important) they would have been able to say a lot more. We didn’t do the exercise to try and show them how much they don’t know; rather we wanted to challenge them to think about their own beliefs about the Gospel of Peace. Do they know what they believe and more importantly can they talk about their beliefs with others.

This is a challenge that we all need to be faced with more often. Many of us choose to live in comfort. Many of us choose to go to a church that closely agrees with our own theology and choose to create a community that share similar goals and beliefs. I am not saying that this is bad in moderation. But I do think that many Christians at least those who live in middle class America are not challenged to articulate their faith. We are too comfortable.

Jess Roth