Genesis 8:11 reads: And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
Since the early days of humanity, the extending of the olive branch has been utilized as a symbol of making peace. It is a good symbol and one that is nearly universally recognized. Mind you, an “olive branch only” policy is neither biblical nor logical.
Ecclesiastes 3:8 observes that there is “a time of war and a time of peace.” Even Jesus told his disciples in Luke 22:36 to sell their garments and buy swords.
But our society seems to be hitting a bad stride right now, one where the only branch in anyone’s hands seems to be a switch.
For those of you who do not know what a switch is, from personal experience I can tell you that it can be defined as “a small branch from a tree that when carefully applied to a posterior causes psychological maladies such as good manners, respectability and the desire to obey.”
The reason a switch was so effective in the days of my youth, though, was that it was only used when absolutely necessary. On other days there was a whole lot of olive branch going on in my life.
America could use some olive branches right now.
I am only 47. But that is a long enough period of time for me to be able to compare decades and realize that the level of hatred in our society is almost off the charts right now.
Everyone is dividing into camps along racial, political and many other lines. Those camps are then becoming completely polarized; all switches, no olive branches. Anyone who is “on the other side” can only be spoken ill of. If they happen to do something good, that must be ignored, lest we “aid the enemy.”
That is a pretty wearisome way to live and very ineffective for the improvement of a society.
Constant hatred takes a lot of energy to maintain, energy that could better be spent on more worthwhile purposes.
Buckle up, I am about to demonstrate how this olive branch thing works.
I disagreed with President Obama on most of his policy decisions. I believe he altered America tremendously and that almost all of those changes were bad. He seemed to me to border on Marxist belief in many things and to spend more time trying to tear down the power of our country rather than build it up.
But I also tremendously admire some things about him. He seems to me to be a devoted husband and father, two things that I regard as precious beyond valuation. He also had a great dignity about him in most of his presidential capacities and communications.
I cringe when I consider the lurid and lecherous background of President Trump, and I shake my head in frustration at many of the foolish and almost childish things he tweets. I also am very grateful for his wise judicial appointments, and I find myself standing and cheering over his obvious, passionate love for this country.
He has also been an ardent supporter of the Constitution, a staunch ally of the faith community and has in only a year’s time had a tremendously positive effect on the economy.
This principle holds true for race as well. Blacks tend to see only the perceived flaws of whites, and whites tend to see only the perceived flaws of blacks. But where is the olive branch in that?
Yes, each race has flaws, but what of the positives? One of the happiest moments of my life was straining to push an elderly white lady’s broken-down vehicle out of traffic and suddenly feeling a “thud, thud!” on each side of me as two young black men joined in to help. There is a lot of good out there wrapped in a lot of different skin tones.
Jesus used this same model of utilizing both switch and olive branch. In Revelation 2-3, he addressed seven churches and both praised their good qualities and excoriated their wrongs.
Without the olive branch, people are much less likely to respond positively to the switch.
I am guessing that, in a way, people are afraid to extend olive branches. Not for fear of having those on the other side reject them, but for fear of having those on their own side turn on them.
But I regard it as a risk worth taking. I intend on never being afraid to stand up and speak the negative truth about anyone in the wrong. But what takes even more courage than that, often, is being willing to stand up to your own side and have something positive to say about those on the other side of the issue.
Bo Wagner is pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, N.C., a widely traveled evangelist and author of several books available on Amazon and at www.wordofhismouth.com. Email him at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org.