My heart is filled with grief at the picture of Muslims affiliated with IS lining up Christian Copts for martyrdom. My mind reels. In addition, religiously motivated shootings in Denmark and France are shocking as the specter of anti-Semitism appears. The potential in humans for barbarity is surfacing in several places. On another front, I am saddened also at the losses and broken promises in the war in Ukraine. One country invading another to take over more territory – sounds like greed in action, lightly covered under the pretext of a rebel cause. There is so much fanaticism and aggression!
Is there a word of wisdom for our warring world today? This morning I was reading James 3:13-18 and was impressed by it. It is a rebuke to the spirits both of fanatics who kill and to aggressors fulfilling their selfish ambitions. A popular paraphrase brings it down to a more personal level and warns, “Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats” (James 3:16 The Message).
In New Testament times the fanatics were the Zealots. The word translated envy in this passage is the word for zeal that they used. The Apostle James warns that in contrast to hearts filled with bitterness and selfish ambition and behavior marked by evil, “true wisdom is the wisdom of peace not of violence” (IVP Bible Background Commentary on the NT). A person who is truly wise shows gentleness and consideration for others. They are merciful, impartial, reliable and straightforward in their dealings. Those who sow bitterness and violence reap bitterness and violence. But the harvest of peacemakers is joyful. I pray for wise peacemakers in our world.