Proverbs
6:16-19 NIV
[16] There
are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: [17] haughty eyes,
a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, [18] a heart that devises
wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, [19] a false witness who
pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
In the
light of what has been happening in Bendigo over the past months this proverb
is especially poignant. Conflict is not the way God works. Stirring up conflict
puts you at odds with God and His purposes straight away.
It is
interesting to see the other things linked with stirring up conflict here: pride,
lying, murder, conspiracy, rushing to evil, false witness. These are the six
things that God hates. The seventh that He detests is the fruit of these, stirring
up conflict.
This
latter has dangerous bed fellows. The Bendigo experience is one evidence of
this. The initial conflict over the building of the Mosque has led to Bendigo becoming
the centre for a new political party set up by the United Patriot Front, a
neo-nazi ultra right wing group. While
they were
not based in Bendigo, the situation here attracted them and has given them unlimited
publicity, internationally, to our shame. Some locals have given them a form of
legitimacy which has only added to the problem.
God’s ways are not our ways. How many times have we heard this, yet when
push comes to shove we tend to forget it. We think we can do things the way we
think is right, even when Scripture screams the opposite. Our base nature, and
our prejudices, come to the fore and the result is often conflict.
Jesus
never acted in this way. He absorbed all the hate and prejudice into Himself,
and that stirred up a different sort of conflict which resulted in His
execution. Yet He never encouraged any conflict. Those who stirred it up were
judged by their own actions and ultimately were overcome by the power of His
love after the Resurrection and Pentecost.
