Amid all the cultural and political chaos going on, the irony of it all is people calling for unity while only further seeking to divide. It’s gone beyond rhetoric to becoming violent. No matter how much we may try to romanticize the past, the fact is there has never been true unity among men. From the moment of the fall of man through today, divisiveness has been and will always be. This isn’t meant to be cynical, but rather just reality. When I was in the Air Force, I was fortunate enough to attend a post-graduate program on the employment of air power in the geopolitical spectrum; it was essentially political science. We studied conflict and war, just war theory, international diplomacy, and so on. One of the aspects of geopolitics that struck me regarding conflict was that there has never been peace, but rather periods of the absence of war. The military is always preparing for war, with the hope of never having to employ that power. But inevitably it does have to be employed, and so the cycle continues. The only thing that comes close to true peace is our relationship with God. As Christians, we are called to be peaceable, if not in the temporal, most certainly in the spiritual. Paul, when writing to the church at Ephesus, was urging them to live a life “worthy of the calling you have received.” As Christians, we are called to have humility and patience. To strive in and for unity through the Holy Spirit. As Paul writes, there is “one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.” For the follower of Christ, we should stive to live in peace, for God’s sake. However, we also must understand that while in this world, and bound by the flesh, there will be conflict. I was asked more than once if I thought my military service, especially during my four years on missile combat crew, conflicted with my Christianity. If it had, I wouldn’t have served 22 years. Rather, I saw myself in position of being used by God to be his instrument of peace. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to live in peace with one another, but not at the compromise of God’s truth. Are there differences among believers? Absolutely! But as Paul wrote, we are all called to one hope…Jesus. That is our testimony to the world. Proclaiming THE One, in truth and love. Don’t let the vitriol of the world being thrown at us every day by the media be a discouragement. Stand fast in Christ.
