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Peace As A Response To Violence

The past couple or three weeks have been interesting; for some scary; and for others, devastating. The world carries on as the world has always carried on, with callous disregard for others in a variety of ways. Whether it is the negligent death of a man in Minneapolis or the spreading of the anger and frustration-fueled killing of others, burning buildings, and general destruction, we see the results of a society and people who know God less, and less.

Violence and greater power are used to control, to frighten, to coerce others so that we can express ourselves and achieve what we think we want. We end up with neighborhoods destroyed in the name of justice and we end up with wounded and dead innocent people in protest of abuse and brutality.

Christianity at its core values humanity and human life. Because of that, the Christian is called to live a life that is giving, open, and compassionate. Sometimes that may move us to protest, to campaign, to pressure our representatives in government for change. Those are all legitimate activities of followers of Jesus, although there are some who would even proscribe those behaviors for Christians because “we are citizens of Heaven” rather than of any country or community.

In all of our activities against injustice, against inhumanity to man, against violence, anger, and strife, we cannot ourselves become perpetrators of those things. If we are Christian policemen, we don’t neglect the welfare of those in our custody and if we are outraged at the treatment of others, we do not join in the chaos and violence toward others. We are called to work for peace, to find common ground with the hurting, the destitute, and the oppressed—however they are oppressed.

Peacekeepers will be called children of God because they live with a focus on the things of God. We are called to love as God loves even those who crucified Him; even those—like us—who made his coming to forgive sin necessary. As we have witnessed the events of the past weeks, it’s easy to pick a side, to choose a champion for our views, and to cheer or at least explain away their behavior towards others. We are to be careful of this tendency because in doing so, we contribute to division, to strife, to evil.
The challenge for followers of Jesus is how to work for peace, for reconciliation, for healing in the midst of high emotions and a seemingly endless stream of atrocities.
As you and I discern our calling and our direction in these times, let us ask that God will direct our thoughts and our minds so that rather than polarizing our world further, we can work for and example the presence of God in the world for people on all sides of these recent events.

May the Lord of peace walk with you this week.

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