I may be wrong, but as far as I can tell, the early Christians were pacifists and that seemed to be what Jesus wanted.
He wanted his followers to turn the other cheek, he didn't want his followers to fight with the sword, or for people to be stoned to death...There might have been a bit of whipping with chords and overturning tables... but no killing or extreme violence...
Should Christians stick to this today?
Yes/no/maybe?
What is the biblical message about this?
It was my reading of the early fathers of the Church, and taking what the New Testament says--quite seriously--that led me to conclude that non-violence is supposed to be part of what it means to be a Christian disciple.
Tertullian of Carthage wrote that when Jesus disarmed Peter, Jesus disarmed every soldier.
St. Justin Martyr says that Christians are those who, as the Prophets had declared long ago, convert their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.
Clement of Alexandria wrote that Christians are instructed in the way of peace.
Origen says that the Christian who prays for the emperor performs a far greater service to the emperor than the soldier who kills in the name of the emperor.
St. Hippolytus wrote that a catechumen (a person in the process of converting to Christianity, undergoing instruction, and to receive Baptism) who refused to reject his military oath was to face discipline by being denied Baptism.
St. Marcellus of Tangiers threw away his military belt in the presence of the emperor, because he had become a Christian, and for this act of treason earned himself a martyr's death.
St. Martin of Tours, even after the Roman Empire was "officially" Christian, said that as a Christian He was Christ's soldier, and thus it was not permitted of him to fight.
And that's barely scratching the surface.
-CryptoLutheran