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How to Build Up a Peaceful Global Community

SCRIPTURE TEXT: ISAIAH 11:6-8

We are in an age where we are facing tremendous fears of superpower domination. Besides dominating world politics, we also experience super-power domination through exploitation of our economy as well as our natural resources. Conflicts are happening everywhere. Mass killings have become such a common feature that peace seems to be an impossibility as long as this trend persists.

Despite this darkness that surrounds us, we may still be able to draw some insights from the Bible on how a peaceful community can be achieved and where all the members of that community may live together without fear.

Wherever peace prevails, we will find some common features in that particular community. If we carefully examine the biblical text of Isaiah 11:6-8, we may discover the wisdom to live together, lie down together, feed together, eat together and play together. These are the basic requirements of community life whether it be strong or weak, great or small, developed or underdeveloped, harmful or safe. No matter what state it is, togetherness is an important element in community life.

"Wolves and sheep will live together in peace." Here is a very sharp contrast of animals which are totally different but are able to live together in peace. This should be our dream, our ecumenical vision. We should work to develop our ecumenical vision

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based on Isaiah's dream. This ideal state of people living together peace is still absent from our midst.

How do we overcome the cunningness of wolves, the aggressiveness of leopards, the power of cows, the greatness of lions, and the poison of snakes? Unless we strive actively to build up a true relationship with each other, it is not possible to live together in peace.

A precondition for building up a trusting relationship is to have confidence in each other. This is sometimes expressed creeds, covenants, accords, agreements, laws and so on. Through this we may be able to eliminate super- power domination over our global community.

We will then be able to build up our relationships so that we may live together in peace and lie down together to rest peacefully instead of fighting with each other on the battlefield. Furthermore, we may feed together without exploiting each other's natural resources and eat together with joy and love. Finally, we may play together in joyous celebration and with excitement just as little children at play with rules to guide them. This is what the Bible tells us of Isaiah's vision. Here, we find the little children as guardians of all the beasts. These are little children of simple and innocent minds who will lead this new peaceful global community. It is not the aggressive master-minded and evil-spirit possessed people who will lead the way.

The role of the little children will be a clue to resolving all the enmity and the overcoming of all the barriers. We, as SCMers and members of the youth constituencies in the mainline churches, have to play the role of guardians in dealing with the beastly affairs of this world.

I envisage the ecumenical movement as one which will build up a new global community where Isaiah's dream will come true. It will be a community wherein all creatures will live together in peace and lie down together happily and feed and eat together without worries, and play together in harmony. I hope and pray that this will be your dream and mine as we work together through the ecumenical movement to build up a peaceful global community. (1991)