Pastor, here’s how to answer “I’m against every war.”

You’ve heard it at a small group, in a youth room, maybe from a sincere friend who loves the Sermon on the Mount: “I’m against every war. All of them. Jesus said turn the other cheek.” It sounds like the most Christlike thing in the room. But at the level of nations, it’s a sermon of the serpent. And the answer to it cuts in two directions, which might surprise you. Here’s how I walk through it as a pastor.

What pacifism is

Pacifism is the conviction that all war, and every use of force, is always wrong. A nation should never defend its borders, never act, just turn the other cheek as a nation.

I want to keep this at the level of nations. Christians shouldn’t be personally violent. But God orders us into families and into nations to protect people and uphold justice and order. What pacifism does is take an individual ethic and apply it to the government itself. That’s a hermeneutical mistake, and it has real consequences.

The serpent’s question

Underneath “I’m against every war” is this: “Did God really give the state the sword?” He did. Paul says rulers “do not bear the sword for no reason”; they are “God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4). Questioning what God has plainly ordered is the serpent’s oldest move. Pacifism does it by sounding more peaceful than God’s own design.

Step 1 — Read “turn the other cheek” correctly

Engage the Sermon on the Mount honestly. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also” (Matthew 5:39) is about personal retaliation. It isn’t about defending your family or your borders. Jesus is telling you not to get pulled into every bar fight. He’s saying pick your battles, be wise, and battle less than we do.

The idealist says, “We shouldn’t ever go to war.” Okay, then stop locking your door at night. Defending the innocent is a good thing. Defending your family is a good thing. And watch the slide: “my nation shouldn’t defend itself” quietly becomes “I have no right to defend myself.” It’s also an idealism that’s mostly possible in a country whose sword has kept war off its soil.

Step 2 — Honor the peacemakers

Here’s where I want to be careful. “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9) is true, and being a peacemaker is underrated. Who are the peacemakers between nations? Often they’re the diplomats. Pray for them by name. Paul told us to pray “for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives” (1 Timothy 2:2). War should always be a last resort. Diplomacy first, conversations first. Especially in a nuclear era, working for peace around the globe is the right choice. But when you have to, you defend yourself.

Step 3 — Re-learn just war theory

Just war theory has been a standard-bearer for Christians for centuries, and pastors should be able to teach it. Here are the criteria:

• Going to war: a just cause, right intention, legitimate authority, last resort, a reasonable hope of success, and proportionality.
• Conduct in war: distinguish combatants from civilians, use proportionate force, and treat prisoners humanely.
• After war: a just settlement between the nations.

Notice “legitimate authority.” That reinforces the point: this is the work of nations, not freelancing individuals. And notice the combatant and civilian distinction. It’s been badly lost in the modern era, and that’s horrific.

Step 4 — Let it cut both ways

Here’s the part you might not see coming. Use those criteria honestly and they don’t just critique pacifism. They also critique the neocon impulse that never met a war it didn’t want, going abroad hunting for monsters. Count the cost: can you win, and what are the second- and third-order effects if you lose? Many wars of choice are unjust. Taking justice into your own hands without diplomacy first makes you the aggressor.

Pacifism is a rejection of human nature. By nature we are sinful, and part of justice is wielding the sword to protect the innocent. But the opposite error is just as real.

If the serpent can keep you from defending the innocent, that’s not good. If he can drag you into every fight, that’s not good either. Just war theory guards against both. Be a peacemaker, pray for peace, battle less than we do, and always defend the innocent.