Violence And The Kingdom of God
- Peter McLean
- 14 hours ago
- 4 min read
The real GAP in the human heart is Greed, Anger, and Pride. That is what leads to violence.
We can get so caught up in the world around us in violence and violent attitudes all the time.
How many things do you know that are called rage things?
When I was driving the other day, I started thinking about it with cars.
So many people drive and say: “Somebody’s in my way. Somebody was tailgating me. Somebody was too close. Somebody didn’t move.”
And what happens?
They get road rage.
Rage In Everyday Life
People say, “I’ve got a car and I’m not afraid to use it,” and then they start banging into other people. In America sometimes they even pull guns out.
It is insane — over traffic.
Rage-Baiting And The Culture Of Anger
There is another form of rage as well.
Have you heard of rage baiting?
Rage baiting is when someone deliberately says something designed to provoke anger.
The goal is to get the other person to react with rage so they can say, “I got them.”
Much of our news media is designed intentionally to work this way.
When I used to teach media studies in high school, we tried to explain this to students. News segments are deliberately sequenced to make people angry or upset so that they keep watching.
People are being rage-baited all the time.
There are people who see things happening in Australia that are bad, sinful, or awful, and they spend their entire day enraged at others. They say:
“I’m on the side of good. I’m on the side of what is right.”
But at the same time they think, I wish I could attack that person and get rid of them.
We see it happening in America, in the UK, in Europe, and in Australia. It is happening everywhere — where people have stopped standing on the side of righteousness and peace and joy and have joined the other side for the sake of the cause.
They begin to imagine violent means in order to oppose evil because they think they are installing the kingdom of heaven.
But that is not Jesus’ way to the kingdom of heaven.
The Warning Of Jesus
If we find ourselves watching the news and shouting at the television or the phone or the tablet, then we should remember what Jesus said.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders shall be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”— Matthew 5:21–22
We must be careful not to fall into the world’s way of doing things simply because we think we are on the side of right.
That is exactly what the Pharisees did to Jesus Christ.
That is why they crucified Him.
Violence and The Real GAP In The Human Heart
The real divide is not between those who think they are right and those who think they are wrong.
The real GAP in the human heart is Greed, Anger, and Pride.
That is what leads to violence.
“The real GAP in the human heart is Greed, Anger, and Pride. That is what leads to violence.”
James writes:
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war.”— James 4:1–2
Think about it.
When does frustration turn into violence?
When people do not get what they want.
They think: I am going to lash out. I am going to get him. He is doing this to me. I am going to take him down.
That is where it comes from.
Violence is hereditary. It is part of human nature. It goes all the way back to Cain and Abel — to jealousy, Greed, Anger, and Pride.
So what is Jesus’ antidote?
The opposite:
Love. Peace. Humility.
How did He say we enter the kingdom of heaven?
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God" — not those who violently take up arms to make it happen.
When Jesus was being arrested, He told Peter:
“Put away the sword. Anyone who lives by the sword will die by the sword.”
“If we allow our hearts and minds to be rage-baited into that mindset, we are crossing over to the other side.”
If we allow our hearts and minds to be rage-baited into that mindset, we are crossing over to the other side.
We cannot allow it.
We cannot allow it in ourselves.
And we cannot allow it in the church.
Taken from the sermon: "He Who Has Ears"
In the message, Jesus’ difficult saying about violence and the kingdom of heaven, and hearing the startling truths about Jesus, are examined in the light of Scripture.
▶️ Watch the full sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEgbWeL4cbE
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