Bringing Healing To This Nation

There is a lot of talk about how divided the United States is as a nation.  This is nothing new.  Every election cycle has shown pretty close margins for some time now.  This most recent cycle was by far the worst.  The candidates were soundly disliked by their respective parties and it seems that many voted simply to stop the other side.

Now it is decided.  The refrain “not my president” would be heard regardless of the winner.  The only difference is which side is saying it.  So now we hear from the powers that be that we must come together.

That is a tall order.  How does a country so divided heal?

I want to offer some advise to Christians.  American Christians hold a dual citizenship.  First is the citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.  That Kingdom transcends race, nationality, and time.  After that, we have our citizenship in the US.  Our role should be that of ambassadors, representing the Kingdom to the United States.

We find ourselves coming to our post amidst gloating and despair.  We see people that feel like they pulled their country back from the brink and we see people that feel as though their country just fell over the edge.  We see that both those sides have a lot of animosity for one another.  As ambassadors of the Kingdom we must consider what we have; what we represent.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-2, ESV)

The problem is that we do not yet have these fruits and we do not yet have this tree.  The Kingdom is now and not yet.  So what do we have now?

We have a role of healing.  We have the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,  and self-control) which we are to use, enjoy, and give liberally.

And we have some basic instructions for living in this society.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15, ESV)

I encourage you to go and hear why some are rejoicing and some are weeping.  (note:  hearing in person is far better than hearing on social media) Listen past the rhetoric and vitriol and hear the hopes and fears.  Listen and respond in love and kindness and gentleness.  

Listen, rejoice, weep, and heal.

Aaron Davis has served as a youth pastor, a pastor, and a church planter.  He currently resides in Springfield, MO and is the author of the novel, “Street Preacher” and is currently working on The Baggage Claim Project. For a list of public appearances or info on how to invite him to speak to your church, business, or organization click here.

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