Tension on the Korean Peninsula

The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.

North Korea used explosives to destroy portions of roads and rail lines connecting North Korea to South Korea. The demolition was largely symbolic, as tensions between the countries have long caused the passages to be closed for use. However, North Korea’s hostilities are a clear sign it is abandoning previously stated ambitions to “unify” with South Korea. South Korea fired warning shots on its side of the border in response, but so far no direct conflict has been engaged.

Analysis and eternal perspective: Border conflicts are flaring up all around the world. It seems to be increasingly challenging for nations and people groups to coexist peacefully—and yet this is a really a challenge as old as mankind. Our task as Jesus followers is to be faithful to the Gospel mandate even amid this dynamic.

Many of these conflicts are between actors that are not moral equivalents. For example, the hermit kingdom of North Korea has chosen to isolate itself from most of the world, and its limited interactions with the outside world have often amounted to saber-rattling (unauthorized missile tests, etc.).

Even so, God’s love for the people of North Korea is as strong as it is for you, and He has a plan for reaching them with that love—it is you!

This story is about people groups in conflict. But your mission and mine is to the people who make up those groups. It is to find ways to reach the one who is lost and longing to be found.

The dictatorial leadership in North Korea may desire to inflict isolation on its people, but the heavenly Father says to each of us, “Come to me” (Matt. 11:28).