Aikido Undercover--July 7, 2023

Aikido Undercover--July 7, 2023

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." [Romans 12:21]

Like the old line goes, "You don't have to attend every fight you're invited to."  Or, perhaps at the very least, we don't have to accept the rules of engagement and the terms of conflict that others want to force us into.  The longer I keep in this life of following Jesus, the more I am convinced that's just what our presence in the world as Christ-followers is meant to look like--people who engage with a world still entangled in hostility, violence, greed, and crookedness, but who don't have to resort to those vices to prevail.  We refuse to fight fire with more fire, because we find the Spirit's presence is like rushing water to quench the flames of hatred and cruelty, rather than fanning them inside us to make us hateful and cruel ourselves.

In a way, it reminds me of the Japanese martial art known today as aikido, which emerged as a distinct form in the early decades of the 20th century.  Aikido is an approach to martial arts that attempts simultaneously to defend against an attacker while protecting the attacker from injury as well.  It is a philosophy that recognizes the innate human value and dignity even of one's opponents, and therefore refuses to use a scorched-earth tactic of doing maximum harm.  Instead, aikido techniques are meant to take the opponent's energy, receive it, and redirect their force and momentum in such a way that both the defender and the attacker are not permanently harmed. Now, since I'm hardly an expert in any form of martial arts, it's not my bailiwick to judge how effective or successful any given style or school may be.  But I do find the idea compelling, that it is possible to be "victorious" without needing to hate, harm, or destroy your enemy, but rather to seek their well-being even if they are not seeking yours.  That seems both very Christ-like to me and very much what the apostle Paul was getting at here in Romans.

And what's more, it's another example of what it means that love is "always bearing." The nature of love is to be patient enough (remember where we started in this series, with "love is patient"?) not to immediately react, but to think how to respond to a situation, even of hostility, in ways that redirect and channel hostility without lashing out or attacking back on evil's terms.  That's what Paul is advising the Christians in the very heart of the Opposing Empire (in Rome itself!) to do, whether they find themselves harassed by Roman soldiers, excluded by relatives, or run out of town for being "troublemakers" by their neighbors.  The Christian community doesn't answer that hostility with more hostility, and neither do we adopt a tactic of "we've-gotta-get-them-before-they-get-us."

The challenges you and I face today will likely be different from what the first century Christians faced in Rome when Paul wrote to them. Nobody will point a spear at you with the threat to impale you if you don't burn incense to Caesar... but you will face questions of who and what get your ultimate allegiance (and no matter how noble or wholesome, if it ain't Jesus and the Reign of God, it's not worthy).  It's unlikely anybody will run you out of town for costing them profits in their silver idol business (like happens in Acts 19 with the business around the cult of Artemis), but they may get upset when we start to question business practices or profit margins in our own country while neighbors go hungry.  And there's not much chance you'll ruffle feathers for baptizing a foreigner in a chariot by the side of the road (like Philip does for the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8), but you just might incur the wrath of Respectable Religious people around you who don't like the people you say are included in the reach of grace.  The details will be different, but in the face of whatever hostility we encounter, the call is the same: to bear, absorb, and redirect that energy in ways that seek the good of all.  We will answer their enmity with compassion, and we will refuse to accept an "It's us or them" mentality.  We can seek our own well-being while also protecting and preserving even those who would do us harm.

Think of it like doing aikido undercover--no martial arts garb, gi, or belt are necessary, no weapons, and no formal moves--but in every interaction today, we will be ready to answer any hostility from others, any evil directed our way, with good... for all.

Lord Jesus, give us the wisdom, grace, and patience to love the way you do--answer hostility and hatred with love even for those who see us an enemy.