Fight Quotes

“the most visible form of Jesus’s not-of-this-world kingdom is the radical, head-turning love of one’s enemies, even (or especially) when we are suffering at their hands. Peter mentions this cruciform enemy-love no fewer than ten times in five chapters, making it the artery of the letter.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“If America, for instance, used the Bible to shape its warfare policy, that policy would look like this. Enlistment would be by volunteer only (which it is), and the military would not be funded by taxation. America would not stockpile superior weapons—no tanks, drones, F-22s, and of course no nuclear weapons—and it would make sure its victories were determined by God’s miraculous intervention, not by military might. Rather than outnumbering the enemy, America would deliberately fight outmanned and under-gunned. Perhaps soldiers would use muskets, or maybe just swords. There would be no training, no boot camp, no preparation other than fasting, praying, and singing worship songs. If America really is the “new Israel,” God’s holy nation as some believe, then it needs to take its cue from God and His inspired manual for military tactics. But as it stands, many Christians will be content to cut and paste selected verses that align with America’s worldview to give the military some religious backing. Some call this bad hermeneutics; others call it syncretism. The Israelite prophets called it idolatry.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“As long as we pray, love, suffer, and herald the good news that Jesus is King, we will continue to see the kingdom of God thunder against the kingdom of Satan. We need to make sure we’re fighting in the right war with the right means.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“when Jesus tells His followers not to resist evil people, He uses a word that suggests a violent resistance. In fact, New Testament scholar N. T. Wright translated the verse “Don’t use violence to resist evil” to remove all ambiguity.6 Put simply, when Jesus says, “Do not resist the one who is evil,” He specifically prohibits using violence to resist evil.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“The nonviolent rhythms of the cross meet the melodies of this world with dissonance. I”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“My culture gives me no categories to view suffering—especially suffering at the hands of an oppressor—as victory. My culture sees suffering only as defeat, as evil. It never sees suffering as a means of victory. This is why I need to read John’s vision about what’s really going on from God’s perspective to correct my American, self-serving, “I will defend my rights at all costs” mind-set. I need to follow the slaughtered Lamb wherever He goes, so that I can reign with Him in victory. THE”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Jesus’s central message was not primarily about how to get to heaven when you die, or about becoming a better person. The central message of Jesus was about the coming of God’s kingdom.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Seeing America’s military strength as the hope of the world is an affront to God’s rule over the world. It’s idolatry.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“But our hope does not lie in enforcing our ethic upon secular governments. We can’t legislate the kingdom of God into existence.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Studying the book of Revelation has been one of the most paradigm-shifting experiences I’ve had in the last ten years. I’ve known that the Bible talks about suffering. But I’ve never seen how godly suffering has such significance in God’s plan of redemption and judgment. This has revolutionized my thinking, because I don’t like to suffer. But if Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension mean anything, then I must let my eyes of faith rather than my pain sensors dictate how I process suffering. I must, like the Moravians, follow Jesus wherever He goes.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Having the mind of Christ means embracing others—especially our enemies—in humble, reconciling, forgiving love. It means never giving up on them even when they are putting us to death.11 Paul doesn’t leave any wiggle room. He doesn’t say, “Have this mind among yourselves until it gets too hard” or “until your enemy becomes particularly violent.” Jesus’s enemies were plenty violent (ever studied crucifixion?), and yet He was “obedient”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“We love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, extend kindness to the ungrateful, and flood evil people with mercy not because such behavior will always work at confronting injustice, but because such behavior showcases God’s stubborn delight in un-delightful people. Faithfulness rather than perceived effectiveness motivates our response to evil.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“It’s tough to follow Jesus while clutching on to our rights, our honor, our reputation. This kingdom stuff isn’t for the fainthearted.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Loving your enemy. Doing good things for evil people. Never taking vengeance. Responding to violence with nonviolent love—even if it brings suffering. These are not options, but the primary character traits of those who claim to follow a crucified God.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Before we apply Joshua to our lives, we need to make sure which side of the Jordan we are living on. Militarism invites God's wrath.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“But the kingdom of God is not commanded to make the kingdom of Rome more moral. Interestingly, whenever Jesus was lured into political debates, He always “transformed these kingdom-of-the-world questions into kingdom-of-God questions and turned them back on His audience (Matt. 22:15–22; Luke 12:13–15).”26 That’s because our mission is not to solve all the world’s problems but to embody and proclaim the kingdom of God as the place where those problems are solved.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“The twentieth century witnessed more Christian martyrs than the previous nineteen centuries combined. And not a single one of them died arbitrarily. Every pool of blood contributed either to the salvation of their enemies or to their wrath. Not a single drop was meaningless.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Often Christians have been the ones leading the charge to war rather than the ones standing in front of the tanks.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“I do not recognize the empire of this world,” said one early Christian named Speratus. “I acknowledge my Lord who is the emperor of kings and of all nations.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“We are to submit to the governing bodies, pray for them, and pay our taxes. But the kingdom of God is not commanded to make the kingdom of Rome more moral. Interestingly, whenever Jesus was lured into political debates, He always “transformed these kingdom-of-the-world questions into kingdom-of-God questions and turned them back on His audience (Matt. 22:15–22; Luke 12:13–15).”26 That’s because our mission is not to solve all the world’s problems but to embody and proclaim the kingdom of God as the place where those problems are solved.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“We no longer view the world through the dim mist of justice and reward, but through the bright lens of resurrection, where suffering leads to glory and slaughtered lambs rule the earth.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“In this commandment of God no exception at all should be made: killing a human being is always wrong because it is God’s will for man to be a sacred creature.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Loving one’s enemies was the ethical heartbeat of early Christianity. It’s what separated Christians from everyone else, according to Tertullian.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“To ensure Israel’s trust in Him rather than in a human king, God gives Israel an economic system that can’t support a professional army. After all, somebody has to fund the army. But not in Israel. No taxes are supposed to be collected to support a military—God wants excess money to be given to the poor, not to fund a military (e.g., Deut. 14:29). And when Israel does end up choosing a king, God does not allow him to have the financial means to support an army (Deut. 17).7 Israel’s economic system, therefore, is set up so that the nation can’t sustain a standing army without violating the system itself. Israel’s “army”—if we can even call it an army—is a group of weekend warriors whose skills, or lack thereof, testify to the power of God, who alone ensures victory.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“God works within a broken system to gradually improve it until it’s eventually done away with.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“Viewed from one angle, Jesus’s entire ministry of peace was a colossal failure. But the resurrection changed everything for Him. And the resurrection changed everything for us. We no longer view the world through the dim mist of justice and reward, but through the bright lens of resurrection, where suffering leads to glory and slaughtered lambs rule the earth. Therefore, even if we fail to bring down dictators, our rock-solid hope is that God will take care of dictators in His own way, and He will carry out perfect vengeance in the end. God can use human agents to carry out His wrath on evil even today (Rom. 13:4), but nowhere in the New Testament does God use the church to be an agent of wrath. We are commanded unequivocally to love our enemies and trust that God will judge the wicked in His own timing.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“When we buy into the American narrative that focuses on “flesh-and-blood enemies,” we are spraying the tip of the flames, not the source of the fire. America could nuke the entire Middle East, and Satan would walk away untouched. China or Iran could conquer America, and God’s kingdom wouldn’t feel a thing. As long as we pray, love, suffer, and herald the good news that Jesus is King, we will continue to see the kingdom of God thunder against the kingdom of Satan. We need to make sure we’re fighting in the right war with the right means.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“A person who chooses to love his or her enemies can have no enemies. That person is left only with neighbors.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“The New Testament is ubiquitously clear: don’t retaliate with evil for evil; do good to those who hate you; embrace your enemy with a cross-shaped, unyielding divine love.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence

“rather than perceived effectiveness motivates our response to evil.”
― Preston Sprinkle, Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence