The Peacemaker

Sunday, Rev. Tom Breeden will minister to us on how we become peacemakers in a world of deepening polarization. His first session, at 9am in the youth room, will focus on answering the question, “How did we get so divided?” In our video promo, I told the story of my conversation with Tom at a convention seminar where he said to me, “Polarization only exists in the presence of a threat.” Then we listened to a speaker who recounted multiple threats that we face and urged us to act. But that’s not action, that’s reaction. Motivated by fear or a sense of righteousness, our actions often make the problem worse.

If the threats are real, the first job of any believer is to bathe them in prayer and ask God to give us courage to act, and clarity in how to act. Then we might engage trusted brothers and sisters to evaluate our plan, listen to the Holy Spirit speak through them, before we act. The Spirit might lead us not to act but endure the threat (think of Daniel in Babylon). The Spirit might lead us to act more patiently because there are bigger priorities than eliminating the threat (think of King David and King Saul). He might move us to immediate action (think of Paul confronting Peter). 

The point is that God has grace for us to evaluate threats from his perspective and act in accordance with his wisdom, working toward unity in love. Join us Sunday as we explore these important themes.