Divisiveness overwhelming civility

Everyone seems to agree and to lament the fact that things have almost come to the point of utter disgust with the level of contentiousness and divisiveness existing in our society today. Perhaps even worse, is the disrespectful tone and language that many people use to communicate their disagreements and grievances with one another. Even in the sharpest disagreements there are better and more civil and respectful ways to communicate disagreement without making a life and death situation out of every issue.

It seems some people think their mission in life is to stir up strife, turmoil, and controversy and they are not happy unless it is so. This kind of mission sounds as diabolical as the mission of the devil whose came to “lie, steal, and destroy.”

Come to think of it there’s a saying often used by actors and entertainers, to get more attention and publicity for themselves.. - “Never let a good scandal or a crisis go to waste.” In other words, find a way to get attention and translate scandal’s and divisive issues into advantage for yourself.

On the other hand, there are also some people who are simply consumed with drama and have never learned to appreciate tranquility and peace. However, in the Bible, we read the fact that God is a God of Peace and much prefers people that pursue peace. Jesus, in the seventh beatitude of the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 5:9 said; “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Peace is an aspect of moral uprightness which God recognizes in peacemakers. In a verse from Isaiah 57:20-2: the case for peace is made crystal clear. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt. “There is no peace”, says my God, “for the wicked.”

Furthermore, according to the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah (Isa. 9:7) we read that peace is a major characteristic of the eternal kingdom of God. “Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, — To order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.” If contention and divisiveness are not tolerated in heaven, should they at least be discouraged on earth?

In the Bible the word, “peace” appears over 500 times showing how important is the concept.) In Gala-tians 5:20 St. Paul’s most stern rebukes to the churches are to those who habitually cause divisiveness and dissension. Of course, that does not mean that we should keep silent in cases of obvious wrongdoing and injustices, but the social environment would be so much more pleasant for everyone if we all strived to soften our tone and rhetoric. If we loved others as the commandments of God say we ought to do, we would not be so quick to disagree so loudly, and vehemently.. Remember the words of Jesus in Mark 3:24-26 “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

Pastor Gene Holman of Living Word Fellowship in Gardnerville is a member of Carson Valley Ministers’ Association