The Way of Jesus and the Non-Aggression Principle
The world has a long history of using violence to silence opposition. Whether through governments, movements, or individuals, there has always been the assumption that the quickest way to victory is to overpower your enemies.
But if we follow Jesus, we must ask a different question: Is violence ever the way forward?
For years, I described myself as a libertarian, and one of the ideas that shaped me was the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP). Walter Block, a libertarian thinker, explained it this way:
“Libertarianism asks one and only one question: Under what conditions is the use of violence justified? And it gives one and only one answer: Violence can be used only in response, or in reaction to, a prior violation of private property rights.”
This principle continues to be one of my core principles: the proper use of violence is in defense of life and liberty. I think this principle, rather than complete pacifism, is the most compatible with Jesus’s teaching.
Jesus taught that rather than responding to people and situations that we don’t like with violence, that we respond with love and prayer.
The lessons to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:38–44), are not negotiable for followers of Jesus. These lessons are how we live out the Kingdom of God in the world. On the cross, Jesus forgave those who crucified him, breaking the cycle of violence by not fighting back and surrendering in love to his enemies. His resurrection vindicated that way of life.
While I would still consider myself to be a Christian Libertarian, I lean, just like J. R. R. Tolkien, towards Christian Anarchy.
Christian Anarchy is not chaos or lawlessness—it’s about living under the reign of King Jesus rather than trusting in the coercive power of the State. It’s about recognizing that Christ’s Kingdom does not advance through swords, guns, or political decrees, but through sacrificial love and faithful witness.
In that light, the Non-Aggression Principle is a helpful starting point, but the way of Jesus calls us to go even further. For the libertarian, violence may be justified in self-defense. For the Christian, violence is always suspect, because it puts our trust in force rather than in the cross. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for violence when it comes to protecting people, in fact I would consider it a loving act, but it does mean that our default position is not violence or “fighting fire with fire.”
Here’s the challenge:
- If we think it’s acceptable to silence people—Nazis, communists, supremacists, or anyone else—through violence, then we are not living in the way of Jesus.
- If we embrace coercion as a political tool, we are not protecting liberty, we are abandoning the Kingdom ethic.
Violence does not create peace; it only multiplies hostility. Coercion cannot bring freedom; it only tightens chains.
The Kingdom of God offers a better way. It grows not through domination but through service, not through aggression but through self-giving love. This is the radical alternative of Christian Anarchy: refusing to put our hope in the violent power structures of the world and instead trusting the crucified and risen King.
Violence is not the answer. Jesus is.
