The peace in our world is fragile. I don’t think we can even properly call it peace. It seems that country after country is at war with itself. I can identify with that. See, I have some kind of an immune disorder that’s starting to make my immune system start to attack my joints. It’s a small thing, so the doctors don’t know what it is, and it’s very unsettling to have a problem with your body that isn’t big enough and test results that “aren’t significant enough” to be fully diagnosed. However, it is evident that my body is starting to wage war against itself, much like my country.
I’m an American. I love my country, and I love my countrymen. It grieves me to see pictures and videos of angry citizens rioting and protesting in the streets of a land that has long been known for freedom, justice, and peace. What grieves me even more is the basis on which my people think peace is built. “No justice, no peace” has been the rallying cry of many. They believe that peace will come when laws are in place to justify wrongdoing, but it never has and it never will.
Certainly, lawful justice is needed; I am not an anarchist. But the world can never know peace, for as long as the law rules, the world is condemned and justice will prevail. And that justice is eternal death. But God so loved the world, that He made a way for the law to be fulfilled, to bring peace on earth, extending His good will to man (John 3:16; Luke 2: 14).
These riots and struggles that are taking place here and around the world are, on the surface, about racial equality. Believe it or not, the early church struggled with this kind of thing too, except instead of being “black v. white” it was “Jew v. Gentile.” Ephesians 2:11-22 deals with this terrible problem of disunity, explaining in verse 14 that Jesus Christ Himself is our peace. This verse is so beautiful! In Christ, the enmity between two peoples is dissolved, and we need no law to establish peace, for there is a “new man” created, so making peace (vs. 15).
The answer to the fighting in our world today is not more law. It is Jesus. And if His people would care enough for those dying around us, we would speak of Jesus everywhere (Mark 16:20). I might never know why my body is sick, and I may never know what could fix it. But we know why the heathen rage (Ps. 2:1-3), and we know the answer to their problem — it’s Jesus. But how will they know unless we tell them? And how will we tell them unless we go (Rom. 10:11-15)? Yes, we need to be careful, but at the same time let’s not be so cautious that we disobey clear commands given by God! After all, he that saves his life shall lose it, but he that loses his life for Christ’s sake shall save it (Mark 8:34-38). We are called to spread the news of Jesus Christ and His eternal life. It’s about time we did it.
Victoria White is a graduate of Baptist College of Ministry and a member of Falls Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, WI. She has a burden for young people to understand the Bible and to live for God in this world. She has 6 siblings and lives in Germantown, WI.
