It is 2020 and the world is on a whole new level of brokenness. The Coronavirus has brought in a host of issues that have exposed lines and cracks in the foundations of our country that seem to have been simply glossed over for years. Our country seems less The United States of America than it ever has and seems to have morphed into The Divided States of America.
A question has plagued me, ‘What can I do to heal this brokenness and
division?’. It has been a regular question the past few months. More so now at the end of August than it has even in the past few months. I long for an answer because I fear that if not healed, this division will break America.
I believe that the principle of what Jesus teaches in Mark 3:25 about how
Jesus cannot be from Satan as he fights against the very purposes of Satan
applies to more than just Jesus’ identity. I believe that, “… if a house
is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand,” can be
applied to a family structure, a company, or even a country. And it breaks me as a citizen of this country to think that we are seeing our country tear
itself apart.
But as I dwell on what part I having in helping to heal America, I am reminded that the goal of the gospel is not to unite a country’s citizens, to bring peace to a nation, provide social justice, or even mandate how a country should be run. The goal of the gospel is to allow those who believe, to enter into an eternally peaceful nation, where there is no inequity, and is ruled by a completely just God. To make sons and daughters of the enemies of God and invite them into a communal relationship that will NEVER be divided or broken.
My heart has yearned for our country to find unity, justice, and peace. But I
must refrain from using the gospel to meet my own desires and instead submit to God’s desires revealed in the gospel. Lest I make the gospel about me and eviscerate the good news of what is really good about it; that it is all about God. I must not allow the gospel to be gutted for the sake of meeting the immediate desire of seeing people here on earth experience a slice of heaven.
Unity, justice, and peace can be byproducts of the gospel, and eventually will be included in the final reward of believers. But it is not promised in the here and now and is not promised for all. I have to be clear on this. The gospel is not primarily about the here-and-now as much as it is about the eternal life to come.
So, I must instead allow the gospel to shape my desires. To acknowledge that strife, war, division, and suffering are a part of the here and now in some measure and is a part of what God is using to point people to their need for Him. And that God’s goal for the gospel is to show people how worthy He is of worship even through these struggles.
That when we submit to Him, we are assured that one day we will experience unity with other believers and the God who created all things. That perfect justice will finally be meted out, that no wrong-doing will go unpunished and no God-honoring deed will go unrewarded. That eternal, deep-seated peace, deep-seated Shalom, will abide in the depths of every citizen of heaven.
Is this then a white flag on seeking God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in
heaven? Certainly not. Only a reorienting of my hearts understanding of the
purpose of the gospel. That it is intended first to transfer citizens of a
kingdom that will always be broken into a kingdom that has no flaw or
brokenness. And that this should be my driving force and hope and peace in the here and now. And all the while, I’ll pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.