Sunday, March 20, 2011

Joshua 22; Unity

There is a large town here in west Texas that I pass through on trips. Most of the town lies to one side of the major highway while on the opposite side there are four church buildings. What is odd is that there are no houses or other buildings between them. There are simply four church buildings in a row.

I often ask myself what message is given to UnChristian people by this scene? Surely it screams a message of disunity, distrust and division. No sermons need to be preached nor messages displayed in front of the buildings to communicate loud and clear. Any passerby gets the point, i.e., these Christians do not get along with each other.

Oh that Phinehas could have shown up before all four buildings were completed; his conversation with the Reubenites avoided division. The open dialogue avoided war and brought harmony once again to Israel. Understanding was gained and values were shared.

Just like the case in this chapter, we will all have disagreements and miscommunications in life. Some will be on a personal level while others will be on a larger scale. All will have implications personally and / or socially. My prayer is that we will learn to follow the example of Phinehas who went as a priest -- not a warrior like Joshua -- to engage in a dialogue of understanding and bring about peace from shared values. Then maybe passersby will get a different message from our lives.

1 comment:

Scott Marlar said...

Thank you for this message. I pray that I will learn this. May we all enjoy God's glorious plan for His people!