Healing the Divide

Happy Monday to our CFC family;

A few weeks ago I saw a Canadian politician mention in her speech her support for the “MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+” community which, when I heard it, I thought to myself, “What in the world is MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+?”

Soon after, this same interview went viral as many others had the same question that I had. It turns out the “MMIWG2S” was an addition to the LGBTQ+ acronym to represent the “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls,” and the“2S” stands for…well….“Two-Spirit” (Yes, you read it right!)

After watching this follow up report, I couldn’t help but think, “What has happened to a society that increasingly defines people by categories that separate rather than truths that unite?”

The truth is, suffering is not unique to just a few cultural groups or people. Every society and every generation carries stories of pain, injustice, and loss. Some of those realities are severe and deeply painful and should never be dismissed.

Yes, the history of Indigenous peoples includes real and grievous injustice that must be acknowledged with honesty and compassion. Yet the same is true when we remember the Holocaust where millions of Jewish people were displaced from their homes and murdered simply for being Jewish. One of the most darkest examples of human evil in modern history.

These horrors must never be forgotten in order that they are never repeated.

So the question becomes, what do we do with this pain? Do we carry the bitterness forward for generations, almost like a hereditary disease that never heals, passing it down as one’s identity and unresolved hurt while keeping our focus fixed on past wrongs?

Or is there another way forward that acknowledges the past honestly but refuses to be imprisoned by it?

I remember hearing the stories of my mother as a child fleeing war torn Germany in 1945. Everything was lost including her home, possessions, stability, as well as her infant brother and cousin. When my family fled, strangers just came in and took over the homes and farms. There was no compensation, no reparations, no public recognition of their loss. Just the harsh reality of death and despair.

And yet her story is not unique. It is one of millions of stories across the world where people’s lives have been destroyed and displaced! History is filled with examples of injustice, loss, and hardship in nearly every culture.

So the question then becomes what do we do with these realities?

Our “post modern progressive” culture would respond by grouping people into categories, identifying who is “oppressed” and who is an “oppressor?” Who is a victim and who is not? And while these categories may highlight some real injustices, they also by their very nature oversimplify humanity and do nothing but deepen the divisions that are already there. Because when identity becomes something that is rooted primarily in “suffering” or “past wrongs,” it does nothing but keep individuals and people groups anchored to those wounds.

In scripture we are reminded that all people are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and yet also it reminds us that we are all a fallen people, that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

Therefore this means that the problem is not confined to certain “cultures” or “lifestyles,” but in fact is rooted in the very fabric of our being. That everyone of us have been born into sin, and all have this universal need of a Savior (Psalm 51:5)

But the wonderful hope of the gospel is that God doesn’t just acknowledge our brokenness but is willing to help heal it as well!

As 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will heal their land.”

Healing comes through humility and turning towards God, not through endlessly expanding categories of identity and grievance.

This is not about dismissing pain or ignoring injustice, it is about refusing to be defined by it, because through Christ there is transformation.

As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

As we get closer an closer to the Lord's return, the bible warns that division will increase and truth will be challenged (Isaiah 5:20). Jesus also warned that His followers would face increased hostility (Matthew 24:9). And although this hostility will increase both towards the church as well as the Jewish community, our response should never be fear, anger or defeat, but rather faithfulness to God and trusting in his eventual deliverance.

In the end, adding letters to the Progressives attempted coalition of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ identities may impress some, but spiritually it creates nothing more than an “us versus them” mentality.

But as believers, don’t let them do this to you! Continue to see others as souls created in the image of God, and that no matter their lifestyle or choices, every person is only a repentant prayer away from salvation!

Healing only comes when wrong is acknowledged and people are also given a path forward to healing.

Not permanent victimhood but restoration.

Not identity rooted in pain but life rooted in Christ.

As Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.”

Question: What does it practically look like to move from acknowledgment of pain to genuine healing?

Have a great week and we’ll see you Sunday!

Pastor Dan