It’s good news right.
We – created by God and rebelled against God have now been brought back to God by the ministry of Jesus Christ culminating in His death and amazing resurrection. This brings peace between God and us. This brings inner peace. Then it gives a peace between members of the family of God never before experienced.
Whichever you look at it, this tremendous act of deliverance marks a difference between those in the Family and those without. This delineation can often cause problems.
For those in the Family there can be a sense of hostility and persecution from those without the family that leads them to isolate themselves away from the outside overtly or through the privatising of their faith.
The concern about hostility is a legitimate one. Indeed Jesus said to expect it, because if that’s how they treated Him how can we expect to come off any less? Regardless of Jesus’ motives and desires, there is still a force prevalent in the world that seeks to reject any overture from the Creator to bring peace. That force expresses itself in many ways from explicit hatred and physical persecution, to subtle forms of ridicule and efforts to discredit the faith as being anti-intellectual and anti-humanist.
the response of some in the Family to avoid the risk of hurt through seclusion or isolation is natural and understandable. In as much as it is, it still contravenes the very mission that Christ gave to the Family.
It is still intriguing to see what believers do with the good news and by their actions or inaction and words said or not said, they all but cover up the gospel. what’s worse is that this behaviour implicitly undermines the character Christ expects us to exhibit.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. – Jesus
Peace with God and within the Family energises us to have positive and assertive relations with those outside the Family in the attempt to make peace with them. Now that can happen through efforts such as mediation services helping to heal marriages and bring families together. The helps that can be offered to te local community in various methods can be our expression of helping to bring peace to our neighbourhoods, towns and cities. The social element of the gospel is a pivotal means of being the peacemakers God calls us to be.
Yet in that there is also a driving desire to see those outside the Family come in contact with this good news. The hope is that they will become aware of the power of God and likewise be convicted by the Spirit and be a part of the family.
That means our attitude to our enemies are counter-cultural. Where others would say its best to avoid your enemies and curse those that spitefully use you. The gospel of peace embraces our enemy, seeks to see them blessed and wants them to be aware of God’s love in action.
It is a pity, then, that in the name of some culture war, the Family can get caught up in demonising groups of people and giving them the impression that they are beyond all hope of redemption. It is sad that in some vaunted effort to establish the kudos of the church, there are those whose attitude is not humble, meek and conciliatory, but rather abrasive, arrogant and obnoxious. This is not the way of peace.
The way of peace makes clear distinctions of what we believe, but does not say that we cannot talk to a Muslim, be a friend of an atheist or get on well with people whose way are opposed to that of Christ.
The ministry of reconciliation that Paul talks about is one that ever member of the Body is a part of and that is certainly about getting right with brothers and sisters in Christ, but it also gives a mandate to have a desire to see even the vilest sinner come across a message and a demonstrated way of Christ that shows them there is an alternative to the path their actions are taking them.
It’s not about doing things to get a good head-count and be able to boast of members and the quantity of people who have been affected by what we do. It is about the joy in heaven that takes place when one outside the family is adopted, just as we were not that long ago.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd
Life With CD 