We often think that propaganda intends to persuade us to believe certain things. However, it is often designed to make us afraid to think. Statues of Stalin in the middle of courtyards are not there to convince people that he was amazing, but to fill people’s imagination with this statue—so they couldn’t imagine anything else. The threat of division, like violence and discord, has a similar neutralizing effect on us. To avoid pain, we put up with injustice.

Jesus refers to moments of great fear and division as signs of the coming of the Child of Humanity. A moment of true fear is to be a sign of something to rejoice—because that better world that God has dreamed for us is not only possible, but it is coming to fruition right here! This is not a testament to the value of fear, change, division, or any of that stuff. But to the in-breaking grace of God, the legacy of human fear, and our willingness to persevere for the sake of Christ.