Rev. David Wilson Rogers

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King famously said that “true peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice.” It was a prophetic word in its day, but one that has far greater relevance in today’s world.

Within churches and across the political spectrum in the United States today there is a growing tension. Populist media from television to social media and any variety of news radio talk, fuel the fires of public rage. There are great calls from all sides of the fractured populace to move past the rancor and restore peace within the American people.

Arguably, the lack of peace is comparatively mild when contrasted with fractured war zones and outright genocide that is tearing whole societies apart in parts of our world. As Americans, we can be thankful that our cultural, religious, and political divides have not degenerated into the level of brutality that our capacity to kill and destroy certainly make possible.

Yet, the tension and hatred are very real — and are getting much worse. Some blame the rhetoric that came out of last year’s election cycle. They blame the rhetoric of national leaders for inspiring — if not outright encouraging — incivility within our culture. Many point the accusatory finger at those who have advocated for, and in many ways achieved, great cultural change in the last decade. They blame the disorientation of too much change, too quickly, and for straying too far from the perceived norms that once grounded us as a culture and society.

Even within Christianity, there are those who cry for greater tension, incivility, and outright hatred toward any person, religious belief, nation, or ideology that contradicts deeply-held and cherished views of right and wrong, religious piety, and conceptions of how the world should be. Some have actually quoted Jesus who famously said that he did not come to bring peace, but rather to bring a sword or that he would cause family members to rise up in opposition to family members because of the Lord.

To assume such a violent interpretation of Jesus’ words, however, would be a sinful distortion of scripture. Jesus also said quite clearly that he does not bring peace as the world gives, yet he does bring peace. A peace that Paul would later say rather prophetically is a “peace that surpasses all understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

The peace that Jesus brings is a true peace — a peace that comes through justice, not the absence of tension. There can be no peace when whole sectors of society are denied basic human rights because they lack the financial means to rise out of poverty. There can be no peace so long as health care remains an object of political theater. There can be no peace when discrimination and racism continue to divide communities along lines of race. There can be no peace as long as the religious faithful seek to overpower and control others rather than embrace them in God’s love. There can be no peace so long as inequality prevails, the divide between rich and poor continues to increase, corporate profit takes priority over human dignity, and greed rules the land.

The incivility we are facing in today’s world is a poignant reminder that God’s justice has yet to be prioritized by God’s people. We may claim to be called by God and champion God’s love. We may be quick to pray for peace and long for God to do something to all those bad people who bring tension to our world. We may want peace, but until we truly work for justice — God’s justice — there will be no peace.