CONFLICT, RECONCILIATION AND THE BIBLE: Selected Scripture Passages

Matthew 5:1-10: Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been historically understood as Jesus’ “ethics of the Kingdom”, that is, a compact articulation of the upside-down values of the Kingdom of God such as a thirst for justice, mercifulness, and peacemaking. Matthew tells us that Jesus gave this sermon in public in front of a large audience, a group of people like Jesus who knew all-too-well the oppression and poverty of living under a colonial empire. Nevertheless, Jesus presents to this alternative community or “parallel polis” a radical vision of non-violence and active peacemaking. This vision more now than ever must shape the public imagination of African societies.

Mark 9:33-37: Jesus taught in a time when Jewish political nationalism and religious fundamentalism were accepted by the vast majority of his listeners as the orthodox way of being faithful to God and being God’s people in the world. But Jesus subverted and replaced this vision: he declared that the first must be last and that the leader must be “the servant of all.” Moreover, in a culture in which children were seen as less-than-human and disposable, Jesus insists that the way to embrace him and God himself is to welcome children. In other words, Jesus declared total servanthood and active embrace of the most vulnerable members of society to be the marks of a genuine disciple and leader. The speaker may also refer to Luke 7:26-29.

John 3:16ff and I Corinthians 5:17ff: We live in an age of heightened “reflexivity”, where boundaries are becoming more porous and groups of all kinds (e.g., religious, ethnic, political, sexual) are being tempted to harden and radicalize their identities in opposition to others. This has given rise to the notions of “fundamentalism” and “identity politics” in contemporary culture and politics, which operate on an ingrained logic of self-preservation. By contrast, we see an entirely different approach to conflict in the reconciling identity of God revealed in the life of Jesus. The “world”, which has declared the uselessness of God, excluded God, and even violently opposed God’s ways, is declared to be “loved” by God, to not be “condemned” by God, to be “saved” by God. Paul, moreover, declares that the heart of what God was doing in Jesus was “reconciling the world to himself”. Stated clearly, rather than perpetuating a logic of self-preservation, God demonstrates the way of self-sacrifice in Jesus; rather than perpetuating an orientation of us/them (conflict) God draws near and reconciles the world to himself. Profoundly, then, Paul declares that it is precisely this “ministry of reconciliation” that God has given to us as our chief responsibility: crossing a seemingly unbridgeable distance, embracing a seemingly irreconcilable difference to make peace in the name of Jesus.

Mark 12:28-34: When an attempt is made to corner Jesus in a religious dispute with the aim of creating fragmentation and conflict, Jesus unambiguously announces that love is what God desires – love for God and love for people. This teaching is powerfully subversive for at least two reasons: first, Jesus does not qualify or give conditions for who is to be loved – he simply gives the command to love one’s neighbor. Second, Jesus goes so far as to say that this orientation of love is more important to God than our religious attempts at “worshiping” God. Said differently, Jesus’ theological economy gives greater priority to peace than “piety”.

Luke 10:25-37: Jesus had a remarkable way of answering straightforward questions in surprising and often subversive ways. For example, in this passage Jesus answers the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” by telling a story about human compassion that crossed entrenched ethnic boundaries of social exclusion. In other words, he answered an explicitly religious question by talking about ethnicity and culture. Many of our societies are torn apart by these very same ethnic and cultural tribalisms, and yet many of us attend church, talk about God, and use religion as part of our platform. Jesus’ teaching about “eternal life” and “tribe” is urgently needed as we seek to shape the values and vision of public life in Africa. The speaker should also refer to Galatians 3:26-28 and Ephesians 2:11-18.

Genesis 1:28-31; 2:19-20; Romans 8:18-27: In the task of peace-making, it is important to realize that climate change results in scarcity of resources and the displacement of peoples, which leads to new and intensified conflict. Accordingly, God’s original vocation given to humanity of caring for the creation must be interpreted as a crucial form of conflict-resolution and reconciliation in our own day. Thus, it is no surprise that Paul says in Romans 8:18-27 that one of the ultimate responsibilities of the renewed people of God is to reflect God’s image into the world, which is a cosmic witness to the restoration of creation when humanity is finally resurrected. Conservation and sustainability are fundamental forms of peacemaking.