A
Peace to End All "Peace"
The
world news is hard to watch right now. The unrest in places like Iraq, Syria,
Gaza, Ukraine, and Nigeria breaks your heart and stirs your soul. Evil is alive
and well. And it moves quickly, often with uncompromising intentions. "Cease
fires" are only temporary. They do not represent everlasting peace. As Martin
Luther King, Jr. said, "True peace is not merely the absence of some negative
force -- tension, confusion, or war; it is the presence of some positive force --
justice, good will, and brotherhood." King's words echo the prophet Jeremiah,
who called out the shady pundits of Judah who proclaimed "peace, peace," while
in reality there was no peace (Jer. 8:11).
George Orwell called this type of false prophecy "newspeak" in 1984. God calls it "superficial healing"
in Jeremiah 8:11. Why? "The
brokenness of My people" (Jer. 8:11)still exists. Injustice is still at work. And so we look through the annals of
history and see why so many "peace plans" have failed. Forcing Germany after
the first World War to pay years of reparations because of their involvement
obviously did not lead to the rise of justice, good will, and brotherhood. It
led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. You can't just try to "take out"
a negative force and expect everything to be sunshine and rainbows. And you
can't replace injustice with an equal or greater form of injustice -- a
principle at the heart of King's non-violent resistance movement. Remember what
Jesus warned us about the unclean spirit that goes out of a man, but when he
returns to his old home, he finds it empty. Nothing has replaced the space he
used to occupy. And so he moves back in and invites seven of his buddies to
join him (Luke 11:24-26). If the
principle is true for individuals, it is true for nations and cultures as well.
Evil is overcome and replaced only by genuine good.
And
so we are left with the great question that builds throughout Jeremiah: "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no
physician there?" (Jer. 8:22) Can we ever experience a true peace -- one of
real justice, good will, and brotherhood? Even if these wars end, will these
people be able to claim an ownership of peace? The Bible's answer is yes -- but
ONLY in the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6)and through His Kingdom (Isa. 9:7).
For "there will be no end to the increase
of His government or of peace" (Isa. 9:7). Until my governing principles
and your governing principles "rest on
His shoulders" (Isa. 9:6), the world will be left searching for Gilead's
Balm.
To His Glory,
Caleb
