Lasting Peace?
We know what the world is like. It is not peaceful and friendly. It is dangerous.
“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. - Matt. 10:16-23
In Jesus' day, it is clear that people could be sought out and killed for believing something other than what you believe, or what you think they should believe.
As a Christian, I always believed that this hatred was aimed at other faiths, not mine.
After all, it was people pretending to be Christians who killed the Jews and many others in World War II.
If anything, we Christians are the ones Jesus could have been warning his friends about.
But there are many examples throughout the world of people killing Christians as well.
Why are we like this?
Why do we let a few influencers twist our minds until we see others the way they want us to see them, as evil?
It would be wrong to assume that all people of a certain faith believe others are evil. But it would also be wrong to ignore those who twist the minds of the young, convincing them there is an evil worth dying for, an evil they need to destroy.
Families are torn apart by this indoctrination of evil. And at times, like now, the evil seems to be winning out over reason and clarity.
If we can save those who are being used as pawns in this war, we should. They, like those who escaped horros in the past, will be our greatest advocates for a lasting peace.
More to come...