Articles
"Peace, Peace"
Here we go again. Terrorism and its threat has been with us for a long time - long before 9/11 - and it continues to affect the world with death, fear and conflict. The bombings in Brussels, Belgium this week remind us there is a war afoot by radical Muslims (ISIS and their ilk) against the west. There appears to be an unwillingness on the part of some world leaders to acknowledge the real threat and nature of this war. Without that, the enemy will not be defeated. Reluctance to defeat the enemy is observable, witnessed by ignoring the root cause, redirecting people's attention and complicating the obvious. We hear cries of "peace, peace," but there is no peace.
There is a great spiritual battle raging that follows this same pattern of misdirection and denial when Christians are unwilling to engage the enemy. As an example, false teaching, idolatry and immorality were minimized by the prophets, priests and people of Judah when Jeremiah proclaimed, “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, 'Peace, peace!' When there is no peace" (Jer. 6:13-14). In similar fashion, when brethren wring their hands as if nothing can be done when sin exists among God's people, in effect they are saying, "peace, peace" when there is no peace.
There is no lasting cure for sin as long as it is ignored, excused and denied. Judah was punished because she would not repent and walk in the old paths of truth (Jer. 6:15-16). If we excuse, ignore and redefine sin we incur eternal punishment. True peace comes from God (Isa. 57:19; Rom. 5:1). Offering false peace emboldens our enemy and makes us comfortable with sin (Jer. 6:15).
