What If Jesus Meant It? From a Violent Past to a Nonviolent Church

What happens when following Jesus changes the way we understand violence, enemies, and peace? In this episode, Paul Walker sits down with pastor and author Jon Sherwood to explore what it means to take Jesus’ teachings on nonviolence seriously. Jon shares his journey from a violent past to discovering a Jesus who calls his followers into a radically different way of life—and how that conviction eventually led him to help his own congregation move from an implicit just-war perspective toward an explicit commitment to nonviolence. Together, Paul and Jon explore the Sermon on the Mount, enemy love, the resurrection, the fear of death, and what it means to trust Jesus when his teachings challenge deeply held assumptions. They also discuss how these convictions play out in everyday life, from parenting and relationships to questions of self-defense, the military, guns, and the role of violence in Christian culture. This is a conversation about more than a particular ethical position. It’s an invitation to keep asking: What does it actually look like to follow Jesus into a life of peace? Jon Sherwood is the author of The Unarmed Truth: Following the Prince of Peace in a World of Violence.