I am a Jesus pusher!!! “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:8). In 1968 a major newspaper reported that there had been to that date 14,553 known wars since thirty-six years before Jesus. Since 1945 there have been over seventy wars and nearly two hundred internationally significant outbreaks of violence. While peace is promoted as desirable, the heroes of our world are warriors. Men of peace are considered weak and compromising. Our favorite sports are those of violence, and the video games supplanting the time of our youth are filled with the opposite of peace. “Peace” is heard in the background of battle noise, strife, and quarreling. Television does not promote peace.
Where is the source of this constant clamor of strife and battle? Is it not the root or being of sin? It is self-centered carnality. I am determined to have my own way. I am willing to compromise only when it benefits my greater self-centered desires. When conflict is found, selfishness is present. The prominent, dominating philosophy of our world is to put self first. It is blaringly promoted in television advertisements and strongly recommended by many psychologists and counselors. When self is first, peace is last. Self-centered carnality is the fuel for strife, division, hatred, resentment, and war. It is the core of all sin; it is the opposite of a pure heart from which peace comes. Our only chance for a pure heart is Jesus. When “self” is lord of my life, there is conflict; when Jesus is Lord of my life, there is peace. I am a Jesus pusher!!!