The events of the past week in the United States have evoked calls for “lowering the temperature” in political discourse, urging grace and civility in social dialogue, even making effort to contact friends with whom one differs on such issues and letting them know how much they are appreciated. Bible-believing Christians, of course, shouldn’t need politicians or journalists to remind them of such responsibilities.
I will resist the urge to comment in depth regarding the tragedy that occurred in this country last week, except to urge our readers to consider the relevance just now of the ancient prophet’s words: “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:7). Let’s be absolutely clear: political violence is never excusable, for any reason. But when political leaders offer praise to the violent, encourage physical assault on peaceful protesters, even aid and abet a violent effort to reverse election results and destroy the institutions of a free Republic, one cannot be surprised when the result is violence in return.
Political violence, of course, is nothing new, certainly not in the United States. Four American presidents have been assassinated, and many other presidents and presidential aspirants have been the victims of attempted assassination. Civil War historians will recall the vicious beating in 1856, almost to the point of death, of abolitionist U.S. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts by Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina, an incident which helped polarize the nation and prepared the way for the bloody struggle that followed [1].
But American political discourse, even between widely disparate opinions, hasn’t always been as rancorous or divisive as we see it now. Some of us are old enough to remember the debates on the CBS Morning News between William F. Buckley, regarded by many as the founder of modern American political conservatism, and Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith, a very prominent advocate of political liberalism. Discussions between these two almost never achieved common ground, but the tone and manner of the conversation was so gracious that one almost thought it could take place over dinner! When Galbraith passed away in 2006, Buckley penned a glowing tribute to his “friend and adversary,” as he praised “the amiable, generous, witty interventions of this man, with his singular wife and three remarkable sons, and that is why there are among his friends those who weep that he is now gone” [2].
Biblical Peacemaking
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matt. 5:9). But what in fact does it mean to be a true peacemaker? When all is said and done, everyone wants peace. The only question is, Whose peace, and on whose terms? Dictators and tyrants have no problem with peace, so long as they are the ones in charge. A college professor of mine used to joke about various controversies in one setting or another, saying there were two viewpoints available, “mine and the wrong one.”
A key principle of Biblical peacemaking is the ability to love and respect those with whom we disagree, even while disagreeing vigorously. Even, indeed especially, when disagreements involve spiritual truth and the contrast with spiritual error, maintaining this balance is the Christian’s duty. Ellen White says, “Men hate the sinner, while they love the sin. Christ hates the sin, but loves the sinner. This will be the spirit of all who follow Him” [##3|Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 462.##]. Many today have a problem with this dichotomy, perhaps because too many give enthusiastic attention to either of these priorities while giving studied neglect to the other. But few, when pressed, would deny the common sense of the imperative of loving persons who do wrong while despising the wrong things they do. As one pastoral colleague of mine has said, Few parents would deny that they hate some of the things their children do. But most such parents would admit that they don’t hate their children.
The same principle should apply to those who sustain vigorous disagreements over issues, whether in the church or society. Differences within the faith community, of course, involve very different dynamics than differences in society as a whole. Jesus acknowledged this difference when He spoke of how His followers, like Himself, are “not of the world” (John 17:16), while at the same time affirming that “as Thou (My Father) hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (verse 18).
True Christians, in other words, must be in the world, but not of the world. Jesus touched on this theme again when He declared to Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Christians are not commanded by their Lord to conquer the world by force. This is the methodology of the false religious system condemned in the book of Revelation, which makes “all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (Rev. 14:8), an act this religious conglomerate commits with “the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:2). The bride of Christ, the true church, employs an entirely different method:
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Rev. 22:17).
God’s true people can thus keep themselves separate from the world’s wickedness (I John 2:15) while sharing their heavenly Father’s love for the world’s unsaved people (John 3:16). While the church must separate from its fellowship those professed believers who cling to their sins despite loving admonition and godly correction (I Cor. 5:9-13; II Cor. 6:16-17), they can still embrace their Lord’s love for those choosing to live in sin (Luke 15:1-2).
Conclusion
In today’s America, and elsewhere, Christians should lead the way in peacemaking. Even as they condemn ideas and actions which run counter to the Bible, they can reach out in love, grace, and civility to those who adhere to wrongful ideas and actions. The cultivation of such a spirit relative to religious truth will make it easy to do the same relative to non-spiritual issues, as in the realm of secular politics. Neighbors, friends, even family members may hold convictions and pursue practices contrary to our own, but a genuine Christian will ever show compassion and consideration to those with whom such differences are sustained.
The Bible is clear, of course, that in the spiritual realm the day will come when divine justice and the proclamation of God’s final message will make irrevocably clear the line between truth and error, righteousness and sin. In the modern prophet’s words: “Light and darkness cannot harmonize. Between truth and error there is an irrepressible conflict. To uphold and defend the one is to attack and overthrow the other” [##4|——The Great Controversy, p. 126.##]. But while our Lord’s faithful sentinels must ever exalt the truth and condemn error, they must leave the condemning of fellow mortals to the God who alone knows every heart (I Kings 8:39). The eternal Sovereign of heaven will one day execute the impenitent sinner (Rev. 21:8; 22:15), but this task will be His, and His alone. “Vengeance is Mine,” the Sacred Word declares, “I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom. 12:19).
REFERENCES
1. “Charles Sumner,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sumner
2. William F. Buckley Jr, “In memory of Ken Galbraith, friend and adversary,” Chron, May 4, 2006 https://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/buckley-in-memory-of-ken-galbraith-friend-and-1492041.php
3. Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 462.
4. ----The Great Controversy, p. 126.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan