August 1, 2017
This week’s discussion board is on Article 12 “Hatred’s End: A Christian Proposal to
Peacemaking in a New Century by John Dawson. Dawson’s article depicts a Christian proposal
to peacemaking and he explains how Christians are mobilized to be reconcilers. Reconciliation is
a behavioral process in which we take actions to restore a relationship or creates a new one
following forgiveness (Cahn and Abigail, 2014, p. 207). He also explained how the church of
Jesus Christ has always been to see people reconciled to God through the Gospel, but the main
hindrance to this end has been us. Jesus did not tell us to apply the cross to the other person but
ourselves, and this will give us the power to be reconcilers.
It is no secret that we live in a dark and dying world. Everywhere we look we can see the
terrible acts of hatred and violence towards each other. However, as believers in Jesus Christ we
are called to maintain peace with others. As Christians, we are to have forgiveness and
reconciliation towards out previous enemies. The key to remember is that we would not be able
to complete this on our own, but only through Jesus Christ. Christ is the ultimate example of
forgiveness, which is shown by his example of dying on the cross for out transgressions. “Jesus
healed our broken hearts through reconciling us to the heavenly father, but he also commissions
us to the ministry on reconciliation” (Helmick, 2001, p 229).
This world in which we live in is wounded. We can see the past sins of those before us,
and the relationships which have been torn apart. The Bible teaches us in Corinthians 5:18 “All
this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation.” Sin is a self-centered violation of relationship and everyone has sinned; the good
news is that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be reconciled to our
creator and to each other.
Cahn, D.D. and Abigail, R.A. (2014). Managing conflict through communication (5th ed.).
Boston, MA: Allyn Bacon. ISBN: 978-0-205-8613-9.
Helmick, Raymond G., Rodney L. Petersen, and S. J. Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Religion
Public Policy and Conflict Transformation. Philadelphia, PA: Templeton Foundation
Press, 2001. ISBN: 978-1890151843.
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