Reconciliation is possible

I got an e-mail from a pastor freind who is down in Kenya trying to reconcile the tribal war that is being waged in his Kenyan village. My friend Paul is a brave man. He knows he is risking his life. Several of his tribal members have already been brutally killed. His hometown is almost entirely ethnically cleansed:one tribe holds the center area and the lessor tribes are stuck in the outer slums. Paul fears that unless a deal is reached soon a full fledged Civil War might erupt.Pray for him.
The newly formed "New Baptist Covenant" held a huge gathering in Atlanta a few weeks ago. This group gathered to forge a reunion of the Baptists groups that left the Southern Baptist Convention when the fundamentalists took it over 20 years ago. The 15,000 strong had quite a time. It gave me hope that the warring groups in our Presbyterian denomination can catch the same spirit of reconciliation.
The New Baptist Covenant didn't just show up. It took time to recover from the denominational wars. Hundreds of Baptist moderates had been kicked out of office or fired from their seminary positions or removed from their pulpits. Female pastors had particularly been targeted in the purge. Slowly but surely these people without a church found each other. When they finally had the "numbers" they planned a big event in Atlanta to celebrate.
These moderate Baptists were treated to speeches by two former Presidents and two Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Bill Clinton told the story of his long journey as a Southern Baptist and attempted to pinpoint the crux of the difference between the Southern Baptist Convention and the vision of the New Baptist Covenant. The former president lamented that infighting, political posturing and un-Christian words and deeds have come to identify Baptists. He, and other speakers, called for a way out of the divisiveness.
Author John Grisham (a baptist from Charlottesville, VA) framed the negative message aptly. "For so long, so many Baptists have worked so hard to exclude so many," Grisham offered Baptists three suggestions for seeking unity.
Restore their good name by respecting diversity, staying out of partisan politics, and most importantly, spend as much time on the street as Jesus did.
I believe that the dark and divisive days of the past 25 years are in their death spiral. The world is too small to have every group and tribe divide up and retreat to their segregated spaces. I believe American denominations are devided because our culture is divided. Yet i believe we are beginning to get tired of divisiveness (although people still buy Anne Coulters books and listen to her show) Most people are too wise to believe that one person or one group can see everything with crystal clear vision and have complete knowledge. Bill Clinton (who might have made a great preacher) said that I Corinthians 13:12 is a good place to start any discussion about unity. Here, right before the Apostle Paul launches into his discussion of the qualities and virtues of faith, hope and love, he notes that on this side of heaven no one has complete knowledge. "We see into a mirror dimly...later we will see more clearly" As I get older I have come to realize that I am often wrong about some things I used to be convinced were right. I think (make that hope) I am becoming more humble. Humility that is combined with trust in God's wisdom and power can lead us out of divisive times into a future of unity.
While in California I talked with some folks who came back from Iraq. The real reason the violence is down is not just due to more troops on the ground. The biggest reason is that the communities have already been ethnically cleansed. The remaining religious majority in these neighborhoods now have complete control. Armed armed gaurds control access to these neighborhoods. With no enemy to left to fight, violence is down. You can't call someone to arms if there is no one around to battle.
Maybe the Baptists and the Muslim groups in Iraq have something in common. They will fight and postures and exclude the other side until they get tired of it. then they will discover that endless fighting is too costly and just stop and take stock of their part in these divisive battles. It is just sad that Able Lincoln was right in his second inaugeral address--we humans don't stop fighting until the body count and the resource drain is too high to ignore.