[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":88},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fface-to-face":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fface-to-face-surround":77},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":10,"columnName":60,"date":61,"description":16,"extension":62,"image":63,"meta":64,"minRead":65,"navigation":66,"path":67,"postType":68,"publication":69,"publicationUrl":63,"seo":70,"stem":71,"topics":72,"__hash__":76},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fface-to-face.md","Face to Face",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9],"Joshua",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":56},"minimark",[13,17,20,23,26,29,32,35,38,41,44,47,50,53],[14,15,16],"p",{},"It was a simple misunderstanding, but it nearly led to disaster.",[14,18,19],{},"After years of wandering and numerous battles with their enemies, the Israelites finally occupied the land of Canaan. General Joshua divided up the land so each of the 12 tribes would have a place to live. Then they all paused to bask in the realization, \"Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled\" (Joshua 21:45).",[14,21,22],{},"Most of the Israelites lived on the west side of the Jordan River, but two-and-a-half tribes were assigned to live on the east side of this natural boundary. So Joshua called together the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Before sending them to their new homes on the east side of the Jordan, he blessed them and exhorted them to love God, \"hold fast to him and serve him with all your heart and all your soul\" (Joshua 22:5).",[14,24,25],{},"Peace prevailed until the Israelites on the west side of the river heard that the newly settled tribes on the east side had \"built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.\" Suddenly, \"the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them\" (vv. 10-12).",[14,27,28],{},"What a shocking development! All the Israelites had fought side by side to overthrow their Canaanite enemies, but now they were on the brink of a civil war pitting brother against brother, east-sider versus west-sider.",[14,30,31],{},"Fortunately, cool heads prevailed. Before they took up arms, they extended their hands. Before any blood was shed, the Israelites on the west side sent a delegation to meet with their relatives on the other side of the river. When they got together and talked face to face, the discussion went something like this:",[14,33,34],{},"West-siders: \"Why are you building an altar to false gods? How could you rebel against the Lord like this? Don't you remember all the trouble it caused in the past when we worshiped idols? If you break faith with the God of Israel, you'll bring judgment on all of us!\"",[14,36,37],{},"East-siders: \"Wait a minute. You've completely misunderstood our intentions.\"",[14,39,40],{},"West-siders: \"What do you mean? Your altar looks like a threat to us.\"",[14,42,43],{},"East-siders: \"No, our goal was completely the opposite. We meant for the altar to be a sign of our unity with you. With the Jordan River between us, we're afraid that someday your descendants might say we have no connection to the true God. We built this altar as a replica of the one on your side of the river—to show that we love the Lord too, and we're your brothers, not your enemies.\"",[14,45,46],{},"West-siders: \"Well then, you're right—we misunderstood your motives. We're glad we crossed the river to hear your explanation. We're relieved to know you're not rebelling against the Lord or trying to create a quarrel with us.\"",[14,48,49],{},"The Bible says, \"They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them\" (v. 33).",[14,51,52],{},"How many conflicts between Christian brothers could be headed off if we simply would \"cross the river\" and make the effort to talk things over? How often do we make faulty assumptions about the actions and motives of our brothers and sisters? The best way to resolve our differences is not to fire off an angry e-mail or denounce another Christian in a blog before we've even allowed him to explain his actions.",[14,54,55],{},"Every conflict can't be settled through polite conversation. But wouldn't we avoid some unnecessary battles if we simply would talk with our brethren face to face, in Christian love?",{"title":57,"searchDepth":58,"depth":58,"links":59},"",2,[],"First Look","2008-04-27","md",null,{},4,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fface-to-face","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":16},"articles\u002Fface-to-face",[73,74,75],"Christian Unity","Biblical Theology","Spiritual Formation","Ifqxcs3OXgp2XG8a5JoZWkhUKonQMchSArMR5_zJ2f0",[78,83],{"title":79,"path":80,"stem":81,"description":82,"children":-1},"Extending a Hand in a Hands-Off World","\u002Farticles\u002Fextending-a-hand-in-a-hands-off-world","articles\u002Fextending-a-hand-in-a-hands-off-world","The other day I was driving on a busy city street when it suddenly began to rain. Not a little mist, mind you, but oversized raindrops that pounded my car with a deafening roar while I put the windshield wipers on high speed.",{"title":84,"path":85,"stem":86,"description":87,"children":-1},"Facing Our Fears","\u002Farticles\u002Ffacing-our-fears","articles\u002Ffacing-our-fears","Some fears are mislabeled. We call it \"stage fright,\" but we're not afraid of the stage; we're afraid of the audience. Children say they're afraid of the dark, but their anxiety actually springs from the threats that lurk in the darkness, not from the lack of light itself.",1790466147720]