Ending the war in Ukraine and a ceasefire in Gaza?

“I’m optimistic that collectively, we can reach an agreement that would deter any future aggression against Ukraine.” This was how President Donald Trump, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven European leaders yesterday, expressed his belief that a way can be found to end the war.

While the leaders were gathered at the White House, Mr. Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin arrangements for a meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky, to be followed by a trilateral summit including himself.

In other news, we learned yesterday that Hamas has accepted an updated proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza. Sources say the proposal is a partial deal for a sixty-day ceasefire, the release of ten live hostages, eighteen deceased hostages, and the release of Palestinian prisoners. This is reportedly part of a last-ditch effort to reach a deal and avoid a major new Israeli offensive to occupy Gaza City. Several Hebrew media reports said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would examine the proposal.

The news comes after more than two hundred thousand Israelis took to the streets demanding that Mr. Netanyahu not launch a new offensive and instead sign a deal. It was the largest such demonstration since the beginning of the war.

14,513 wars over 5,500 years

Both stories point to a common denominator: our inability to resolve human conflict through human agency.

We can resolve specific conflicts, of course, as demonstrated by peace treaties that end wars. But we cannot resolve human conflict itself. From Cain and Abel to today, murder and violence are part of our story. From Isaac and Ishmael to today, conflicts between Jews and Arabs have persisted.

It has been estimated that in the last 5,500 years, there have been 14,513 wars in which approximately 2,640,000,000 people were killed. As of 2024, there were approximately thirty active armed conflicts worldwide.

Let’s step closer to home: What conflicts are you facing today? What relational issues exist in your marriage, family, friendships, school, or work?

At this point, you might expect me to point to religion as the answer to the question.

I intend to do the opposite.

“I really have to slow down”

In Democracy Needs Religion, German sociologist Hartmut Rosa writes:

Often, when speaking to a large audience, I’ll ask a question that might be of some interest here as well: How many of you sometimes say to yourselves, or have at least recently thought something like, “I really have to slow down a little next year” or “I have to reduce some of my responsibilities, or else I’ll suffer from burnout” or “I’m in danger of burning out”?

When I ask this question, it almost always happens that nearly everyone in the room raises a hand. This has been the case regardless of whether I’m speaking to students, professionals, or even to retirees. The sense that “things can’t carry on in this way” has become a culturally dominant feeling.

His prescription is for us to turn to religion, which he characterizes as having the ability to transport us from ourselves into “resonance” with others and our larger world. Rosa emphatically does not specify Christianity or any other particular religion, pointing instead to religiosity and religious rites and rituals regardless of their specific referent or content.

I have no doubt that his brilliant exposition of religiosity’s capacity for such resonance is correct. When we pray to anything or anyone, we are obviously focusing beyond ourselves. When we sing worship songs or participate in other religious activities, we are thinking about the object of our focus and those with whom we share it.

Here’s my question: Since the vast majority of the planet’s population is religious, why does conflict persist?

Spiritual tetanus shots

My doctor recently told me I may need to get a tetanus shot, depending on when I was last vaccinated. This inoculation uses a toxoid, a weakened version of the toxin released by the bacteria that cause tetanus. The toxoid creates an immune response that protects me if I’m exposed to the actual bacteria in the future.

In other words, the shot will give me enough of the disease to keep me from getting the real thing.

To my point: If we seek to be religious in the amorphous sense Hartmut Rosa prescribes, we might experience resonance with the world beyond ourselves. But nothing really changes. We are spiritually “inoculated” in a way that keeps us from experiencing the transformation we need most.

Jesus diagnosed the human condition this way:

From within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person (Mark 7:21–23).

Billy Graham commented on Jesus’ assessment:

The basic problem is in our hearts—and the reason is because we are alienated from our Creator. Instead of giving God his rightful place at the center of our lives, we have substituted the “god” of Self. Only Christ can change our hearts—and through us begin to change our world.

Questions I must often ask myself

You already knew that religion is no substitute for a genuine relationship with Jesus and that conflict with others can only truly be resolved by the transformation Christ alone can bring to our fallen hearts. As the axiom goes: Know God, know peace; no God, no peace.

But if you’re like me, you’re nonetheless tempted to substitute religion about Christ for an intimate relationship with him. You’re tempted to “check the box” of Bible study, prayer, and even reading articles like this one as religious acts done in the hope of divine favor in response. I’m just as tempted by religiosity as you are.

So, let me ask you what I must often ask myself:

• When last did you spend time with God for no reason except to be with him?
• When last did you read the Bible for no reason except to hear his voice?
• When last did you spend even ten minutes in silence listening to his Spirit?
• When last did you tell your Father from your heart that you love him?

Why not today?

Quote for the day:

“It is dangerous to be so busy that you have no time to wait on God.” —A. W. Tozer

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