The Mission

I recently watched the 1986 movie The Mission again, and it moved me. The opening credits explain, "the historical events represented in this story are true, and occurred around the borderlands of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil in the year 1750." This explanation, while concise, is a bit like describing enjoying a meal at a fine restaurant as "eating dinner." While factually true, it is a severe understatement.

The movie opens with a nameless Jesuit missionary being sent over Iguazu Falls to his death while lashed to a wooden cross. His superior, played by Jeremy Irons, then climbs the wet rocks of the falls with his oboe over his shoulder to start over. As the movie progresses we see the contrast between the Indians enslaved by the colonists (though slavey was officially outlawed in that area) and the free natives in the independent enterprises of the various catholic missions in the areas. While progressives may decry the destruction of the native culture, there is a poignant scene where the papal emissary orders the natives at the mission to leave the mission and go back into the jungle. A treaty had just been signed in Europe between the colonial powers that transferred this area from Spain to Portugal. The missions were in the way. The chief angerly responds that "the Devil is in the forest!" and that he doesn't believe the religious leader actually speaks for God. He and his people intend to stay right there. This is their home now, and they shall fight for it.

This places the white European missionaries in two dilemmas. They have been ordered by their religious leadership to evacuate, leaving their congregation to the deprivations of the slavers. But if they refuse, their 200 year old catholic religious order, the Society of Jesus, will be dissolved by order of the European catholic monarchs and their own lives will be forfeit. It posed an even greater theological dilemma. Is the follower of Jesus to fight? If so, under what circumstances?

The Bible touches on the subject in many places. For example, we have the example of Jesus, prophesied nearly 700 years before by the Prophet Isaiah, recorded in Isaiah 53:7, quoting from the NIV:

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

And Jesus told the Roman governor Pilot when he was on trial for his life, recorded in John 18:36 (NIV),

My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.

And in the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5:38-39 (NIV) Jesus instructs,

You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for an eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go a mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

But there are other passages that are calls to arms in defense of loved ones and of one's society. In the book of Nehemiah, the people are rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under threat of enemy attack, and Nehemiah records the situation, starting in Nehemiah 4:13-21 (NIV):

"Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, 'Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your wives, and your homes.'

...

"So we continued our work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn until the stars came out. At that time, I also said to the people, 'Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve as guards by night, and workmen by day.' Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water."

Then there are other scripture passages where believers are commanded to fight for the oppressed. Isaiah 1:17 (NIV) says:

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Similarly, Psalm 82:3 NIV) commands:

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed.

So here these missionaries were faced with a grim choice; to obey their leaders and abandon their flock, or to stay with them to the end? Moreover, should they fight, or not? In the movie, some chose pacifism on principle. Others, such as a former soldier and slave trader played by Robert DeNiro, chose to fight for the oppressed. There is a powerful scene where a little boy fishes DeNiro's cast-off rapier out of the river, polishes the rust off, and hands it to him. "Defend me," his face said. Words were inadequate, and so the silence spoke as DeNiro took up the offered weapon.

In the end, each priest chose to stay and die with their congregation. Some died in battle, defending their flock against soldiers, others while carrying their crosses at the head of the procession in a physical embodiment of the spiritual language of Jesus in Luke 9:22-24 (NIV):

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

We have a modern example of taking up arms to defend the weak and helpless that is still in the news. About a week ago in Twin Falls Idaho, a killer shot up a fast food restaurant, the drive-through line, and the intersection beyond. He killed three people and wounded seven others in the process. As the shooting started, at least two bystanders ran towards the gunfire-- an off-duty state trooper and a civilian named Jordan Salinas who engaged the rifleman with their pistols, causing him to break off the killing spree and flee the scene. Mr. Salinas is especially notable in that he had trained himself for years for this exact scenario-- confronting an active shooter-- and his choice of a bulky and expensive weapon that shot expensive ammo optimized to defeat body armor was driven by this potentiality. He had spent personal time and money training for years-- not to protect his own life-- but to defend others.

So what is the proper response of the believer to a deadly confrontation-- fight, or turn the other cheek? I personally believe the correct answer (theologically) depends on the motivation driving the attack. If you are attacked because of your association with Jesus-- because of your faith-- then I see it as a turn-the-other-cheek moment and may God give you the grace to do so. But if someone is just being evil (like the Idaho shooter), then I think you have a duty to defend and ought to be mentally and physically prepared to do so.

Also, watch the movie. It's deeply disturbing-- and good for the soul. There's a great line toward the end of the movie, where the colonial official is trying to comfort the papal legate over the death of his priests. "The world is how it is," the official says. "No," the papal emissary replied, "the world is how we make it to be."

May God guide you through this thought process and all its ramifications.

Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

Psalms 141:1 (NIV)