You have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you
and persecute you. John 5:43 & 44
The good news of the gospel
is sometimes hard news with hard directives.
In the worst scenarios of human conflict, the gospel is the only truth
that makes sense. Christ calls us to love rather than loath our enemies. Seriously!
One of the worst situations
today is the Hamas-Israeli war in Gaza.
The provocations of Hamas rockets launched into Israel and the massive
Israeli response of bombardment occasions several tragic outcomes: 1) the
enormously imbalanced scale of violence and death (Israel:56; Gaza: 1,400+
including children*); 2) the inability to achieve a substantial cease fire, never mind a
lasting peace; 3) the loss of Israel's moral credibility in the world; 4) the unbending, strengthened resolve, by all Islamic
nations in Africa and the Middle East, to achieve the complete destruction of Israel.
When my children (now in
their thirties) were little, I remember one of their spats that became
physical. They hurt each other. When I asked who started it, my daughter
said, “He hit me back first!” There was
no way to discern the origins of their mutual hostilities at that moment. It did no good to force them to say to each
other “I’m sorry!” In the first place,
they didn’t really mean it. It wasn’t in
their hearts to articulate sorrow for hitting each other. Secondly, if they did regret their
contribution to the hostility, regret gives no guarantee that they would act lovingly
toward one another in the future.
Thirdly, even in the context of regret, it is not the same as
repentance. Repentance is sorely needed.
Repentance is sorely needed
in the Palestine-Israel conflict by both sides. But what is
repentance? It is making a 180 degree
turn and walking in the other direction.
It is a massive change of behavior because of a change of heart. We know
something about repentance when we ask God for forgiveness of sins and walk
with Christ in the direction he is walking, in holiness and righteousness.
Four things are needed if
Palestinian-Israeli peace is to be reached:
1) The Palestinians need to get rid of Hamas; 2) the peace talks must be
pursued to a successful conclusion; 3) A two-state solution (a homeland for
Palestine and one for Israel) must be put in place and supported by all
nations. This can only happen if Israel stops building more settlements; and 4) the entire Christian world must bring all of this before God in
prayer asking the Holy Spirit to do what no military or political intervention
alone will accomplish. Finally, both sides need to repent. Only the
intervention of God can redeem the deep, horrible sin at the center of the
conflict and bring new life for all.
Now, unto Him who is able to do immeasurably
more
than we ask or imagine . . . glory!
Ephesians 3:21 & 21
*undocumented statistic - source: The Economist, Aug. 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment