As I was painting my fingernails bright red on Tuesday thoughts came to my mind like, "Why is there so much hatred, fear, envy and other negativity towards sexuality and differences in people?"; "Why are some people singled out for persecution?"
". . . the whole point of Klan-style terrorism was to make examples of "troublemakers" so that everyone else would stay in line," writes Eugene Robinson in his book Disintegration The Splintering of Black America.
Conflict is inevitable. Using terrorism to try to transform others is not inevitable. During Jesus Christ's earthly ministry He and many of the religious, governmental and other leaders clashed. Jesus didn't teach His disciples to try to limit His adversaries to certain books, certain places or certain relationships. Jesus Christ didn't teach people to monitor the every movement of adversaries or try to force them in other ways to convert to Christ.
Instead Jesus taught people things like receiving a relationship with God, cooperating with God to allow inner transformation that will show up on the outside and living life lead by the Spirit of God and not by fear or coercision.
Fear and coercision are terrorist tactics that lead to the tyranny of Satan; being enslaved to sinful behaviors. 2 Timothy 1:7 Amplified Bible says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control."
Sometimes even some Christians become deceived and disobedient to the Word of God and try to change people through terrorist tactics and end up supporting tryannts. Not all Christians and other people in the American colonies were for the independence of America. Instead some supported Britain.
Yet the founding principles of an America independent of Britain were based on the Bible not terrorism. Our American Declaration of Independence says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness . . ."
Jesus Christ gave His adversaries the freedom to believe and to live wrong all the while extending to all people the offer of righteousness.
Means matter. Means are part of the message.
Sometimes terrorists will say they are for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but they will also stalk people, monitor their telephones, Internet and other communication devices, steal, harrass and harm people who hold beliefs different from theirs.
Jesus loves people even while they are His enemies (sinners). Romans 5:8-9 Amplified Bible says, "But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ's blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God."
No one need die for sin anymore. Jesus' one-time death and ressurrection paid for sin. Now it's time for those who receive God to love large. Jesus Christ says in John 13:34-35 New Living Translation Bible, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
Love is not weak, but a wonderful way for conflict to be resolved with all parties in the conflict winning. Through love no one is trying to defeat another through scarring others out of their minds or some other destructive tactic. Love and terrorism are antithetical. Dr. Gary Smalley writes in his book The DNA of Relationships Discover How You Are Designed for Satisfying Relationships, "Remember, you're part of a team. Therefore you have to redefine winning as finding and implementing a solution that both people can feel good about." Dr. Smalley says win-win solutions can be applied to all kinds of relationships. He writes, "The spirit of the no-losers policy also applies in the workplace. If I know that my boss feels very concerned about making decisions that work for me, I can relax and give my best to my job. I feel good about being his or her employee. Of course, at times an employer has to make difficult and unpopular decisions for the health of the company. But even then, the spirit of the no-losers policy can come into play. People committed to win-win will find a way to walk through even a layoff or termination so that people feel valued, honored, and convinced that the employer did everything possible to make the situation work."
Win-win solutions work best for those who have rejected terrorism, embraced the love of God and made sacrifices to share God's love on the inside with themselves and other people. The book The Wisdom of the Native Americans records Chief Dan George saying, "My friends, how desperately do we need to be loved and to love. When Christ said that man does not live by bread alone, he spoke of a hunger. This hunger was not the hunger of the body. It was not the hunger for bread. He spoke of a hunger that begins deep down in the very depths of our being. He spoke of a need as vital as breath. He spoke of our hunger for love. Love is something you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become weak and faint. Without love our self-esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails. Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world. We turn inward and begin to feed upon our own personalities, and little by little we destroy ourselves. With it we are creative. With it we march tirelessly. With it, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifce for others."
Please share personal stories of love transforming terrorism.
No comments:
Post a Comment