Division

Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 


Luke 12:51 ESV


We tend to think of peace as good and division as bad. It isn't necessarily so. If we were all peaceful in the face of Nazism, we'd be living in the Third Reich.


If we are peaceful in the face of Islamist expansionism, we’ll soon be living in an Islamic State. Jesus wasn't some pacifist hippie. Neither however was he a violent warlord.


When Jesus said he came to bring division rather than peace, he meant this in a positive sense. On a motorway, there is a division between the two carriageways to keep motorists safe. In life there's a division between those who are on a highway to hell, and those on the narrow road to glory.


We as believers in Christ aren't called to violent revolution to overthrow oppressive regimes. Christianity didn't overthrow the Roman Empire, despite all the persecution suffered. Ours isn't a political ideology but a spiritual reality.


‘Almighty Lord, please help us to recognise that although we have blessed peace with you, this relationship puts us in conflict with the rest of the world. May we trust in you, whatever life throws at us. For your glory, amen’.


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