There are practical initiatives by which Christians can cool the international climate.
In the February 8 issue I wrote about the appalling size of the superpowers’ arsenals, the economic madness of current worldwide “defense” spending, the predictable effects of nuclear war, and the theological grounds for peacemaking. Jesus’ seventh beatitude retains its full validity: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called God’s children.
But what can it mean to be a Christian peacemaker amid the frightening realities of the nuclear age? What practical peacemaking initiatives are possible?
First, Christian peacemakers must recover their morale. There is a tendency among today’s church members either to grow so accustomed to the balance of terror that we lose our sense of outrage, or to become so pessimistic that we acquiesce to it with a feeling of helplessness. But to give up either feeling or hoping is to have parted company with Jesus Christ. We need to join others in seeking to reverse the arms race.
Second, Christian peacemakers must be more diligent in prayer. I beg you not to dismiss this statement as a piece of pietistic irrelevance. For Christian believers it is nothing of the sort. Jesus our Lord specifically commanded us to pray for our enemies; do we? Paul laid down, as the first duty of every gathered congregation, the responsibility to pray for their national leaders, so that “we may lead a quiet and peaceable life” (1 Tim. 2:1–2). He thus attributed peace to prayer. Today virtually every church has a period of intercession in its public worship. Is it perfunctory or real? Supposing the whole church family during this period were to unite in fervent, concentrated prayer for rulers, for enemies, for peace, freedom, and justice in the world? What might God not do in response?
Third, Christian peacemakers must supply an example of a community of peace. It is impossible for Christians to maintain a credible witness for peace in the world unless the church is itself seen to be a community of peace. If charity begins at home, so does reconciliation. We need to obey the teaching of Jesus first to be reconciled to our brother and then to come and offer our worship (Matt. 5:23–24). We need to forgive our enemies, mend our broken relationships, ensure that our homes are havens of love, joy, and peace, and banish from our church all malice, anger, and bitterness.
God’s purpose is to create a new, reconciled society. He wants his new community to challenge the value system of the secular community, and to offer a viable alternative. Not that this is easy. God’s own peacemaking involved the blood of the cross.
Fourth. Christian peacemakers must contribute to confidence building. There has been a lot of study of the postures of aggression which human beings adopt when they feel threatened. But not enough study has been done on the behavior of states under threat. Have you ever asked yourself how much Soviet behavior may be aggressive not so much because they are ambitious for power as because they feel threatened? How far could their aggressive stance be a sign not of imperialism but of insecurity?
On this matter opinions differ sharply. Some believe the Soviet Union is committed to world conquest by force. They point to Korea (1950), Hungary (1956), the Cuban missile crisis (1962), Czechoslovakia (1968), and to Afghanistan, Angola, Ethiopia, and other countries today. They are convinced Russia is utterly unscrupulous in its imperialistic designs.
Others believe that, although world conquest is indeed the Marxist goal, the Soviet Union is committed to the battle of ideas and to political infiltration, and that the nation’s main concern is the security of its far-flung borders. The Soviet Union has good reason to be jumpy, they add, since already twice this century its territory has been invaded by Germans.
Whichever explanation is right, we must agree that each superpower perceives the other as a threat, and that Christians should support any means to reduce this confrontation of suspicion and fear.
The Helsinki Final Act (1975) spoke of “confidence building measures” (CBMs) whose purpose was to remove the fear of sudden attack and develop reciprocal trust. The kind of CBMS in view were the establishment of demilitarized buffer zones, advance notification of military maneuvers, the exchange of information and observers, and verification measures to enforce arms control agreements. It seems to me, however, that there is also scope for the development of Christian CBMS. I understand that the Mennonite Central Committee arranges student exchanges between the U.S. and both Poland and East Germany. Ought not Christian travel agencies to organize more tour groups to visit the Soviet Union? It is reliably reported that between 15 percent and 20 percent of Russians still are church members. Yet the links between American and Russian Christians are minimal. A strengthening of this fellowship could be influential.
Fifth, Christian peacemakers must promote more public debate. In England in the fifties and sixties the campaign for nuclear disarmament was headline news. In the seventies the debate died down, but in the eighties it must be revived. Fresh questions need to be asked. Is the nuclear arsenal a deterrent any longer? Does it not now offer more peril than safety? Could it ever be justifiable to buy national defense at the cost of millions of civilian lives? Does not the Bible roundly condemn “the shedding of innocent blood?” Is not national morality in the end more important than national security?
But Christians need at the same time to be realistic. The call for immediate, total, unilateral nuclear disarmament seems to me unrealistic. What Christians could do, however, is to call for a unilateral gesture of disarmament, as an example of the “audacious gestures of peace” which Pope John Paul II has canvassed. I believe we should press our governments to make an unequivocal public pledge that they will never be the first to use a strategic nuclear weapon. We could also call on them to declare at least a temporary moratorium on the development and testing of new nuclear weapons systems.
Of course, we shall not succeed in building a utopia of peace and plenty on earth. Jesus said, “there will be wars and rumors of wars.” Not till he returns will all swords be beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks. But this fact cannot be made an excuse for building sword and spear factories. Does Christ’s prediction of famine inhibit us from feeding the hungry and seeking a more equitable distribution of food? No more can his prediction of wars inhibit us from seeking peace. God himself is a peacemaker. If we want to qualify as his authentic children, we must be peacemakers too.
John R. W. Stott is rector emeritus of All Souls Church, London. England.
