Article 12- Hatreds End: A Christian Proposal to Peacemaking in a New Century
It is no secret that we live in a dark and dying world. Everywhere we look we can see the terrible acts of hatred and violence towards each other. However as believers in Jesus Christ we are called to maintain peace with others. As Christians we are to have forgiveness and reconciliation towards our previous enemies. The key to remember is that we would not be able to complete this on our own, but only through Jesus Christ. Christ is the ultimate example of forgiveness, which is shown by his example of dying on the cross for our transgressions. “Jesus healed our broken hearts through reconciling us to the heavenly father, but he also commissions us to the ministry of reconciliation” (Dawson, n.d., p.229).
This world we live in is wounded. We can see the past sins of those before us, and the relationships which have been torn apart. The hurt and turmoil that has gone before us does not have to be the life we have for our futures. However, we still seem to allow hatred to fill our nations and communities seemingly to have learned nothing from history. Today we have hatred for immigrants seeking new beginnings within our nations, religious hatred toward those with differing ideology, and wars being fought for unnecessary reasons. “When we study human conflict, we see that Satan’s method of getting one group to abuse another is rooted in the hardheaded collision of self-righteous people within each group” (Dawson, n.d., p.235).
Dawson gives a clear understanding of the level of hatred and conflict this world has and continues to suffer as a result of mans sinful nature. He explains that Christians have the potential to demonstrate a model of reconciliation in a troubled world of the new century. The Christian model includes confession, repentance, reconciliation, and restitution. Dawson looks to the beginning of the issues of conflict to determine the appropriate method of action...