By Dr. Joe Yelton
Interim Pastor
President Jimmy Carter said, “We will never end war by killing each other’s children.” With ample examples pointing to this truth, I’ll skip the geopolitical wrangling that distracts us from the global atrocities, each day claiming more young lives. Ukraine, Nigeria, Israel and Gaza, serve to remind us that in spite of our social/industrial sophistication, even today we are largely bound to primitive ideas of how we settle conflicts. In each of those instances, children are dying by the thousands. Jimmy Carter got it right.
The Jesus message regarding peace and the pursuit of meaning is so simplistic that, many of us tend to write it off as philosophical well-wishing. Jesus pointed out that Kingdom thinking is so basic that even a child can do it. So, why is “treating others as we’d have them treat us,” seemingly so distant, so unattainable? My take on it is this: we’ve been hoodwinked. We’ve been fed the idea that loving first and best is a sign of weakness. In reality, it is the ultimate show of strength.
Jesus refusing to argue with His accusers ... STRENGTH. Jesus turning the cheek to His abusers ... STRENGTH. When we refuse to participate in worldwide calamity in which the innocent suffer, that is a true show of STRENGTH. And more personally, when we are kind to unkind people, when we make room for that person who shot past everyone, ignoring the signage directing all to merge left, when we reach out to the one experiencing grief or ridicule, becoming their friend when friends are scarce ... STRENGTH!
It’s the Jesus way that will transform weapons into ploughshares. Most any other way will continue producing grieving parents, broken spouses, angry friends, and even a divided nation. As we become less and give Jesus room to become more, we are at our best ... PERIOD!