Veritas Magazine
It's Hip To Be Square™
No one likes war. We are horrified at the lives taken in battle, at times seemingly all for the sake of some diplomatic maneuvers. Some people adhere “Visualize Whirled Peas” bumper stickers to their Volvo station wagons. Others stand in Nolan Plaza with signs protesting the war.
The Olympics have been the picture of world unity since 1896, the year of the first modern games. It seems that we can all gather together in one city and be united in sport. For two weeks every two years, the world seems at peace as we focus on our own national pride and engage in competition. We are under a sort of trance as we watch Michael Phelps and Shawn Johnson go for the gold. World peace seems attainable in these moments to more than just the idealists.
But a great reminder rang around the world’s brokenness on the eve of the opening ceremonies when Russian tanks and planes began to pellet Georgia with bombs. Many, many people have died. (And this is not to mention the Iraq war that rages on, Darfur, the stabbing of a tourist at the Olympics, and general injustice that is a worldwide epidemic)
Call me a pessimist, (I prefer the term realist) but world peace will not come with a multi-billion dollar event. World peace will not come with diplomats gathered around a table or creative bumper stickers. As long as humanity is sinful, we, as a human race, stand in an epidemic of our selfishness. When two people are selfish, their goals will never fully complement each other.
But the concept of world peace isn’t a creation of man. It was God’s idea. He is anxiously awaiting Christ’s return so that we can really all be unified around the one thing that can fully unify humanity—a loving God who redeems people of their sins.
