True dominion does not consist of enslaving others but in becoming a servant of others; not in the exercise of power, but in the exercise of love; not in being served but in freely serving; not in sacrificing the subjugated but in self-sacrifice.

So says Jurgen Moltmann in the context of the Lordship of Jesus. His Lordship is very different compared to the lordships displayed in this world and it is this character that the church is supposed to follow and adopt for itself. In this week when we remember and reflect upon lives lost in war and conflict it is worth reminding ourselves as followers of Jesus of the path he calls on us to walk.

When Christians seek to defend war it is to the Old Testament that they often have to turn – a classic Christendom position. But in Jesus, God teaches us what true dominion is all about and that in achieving it he did not take up a sword to crush his enemies but took up a cross to save them.

This post forms part of a series on Jurgen Moltmann's theology of church.