Repairing The Divide

Through the years, we have witnessed acts of graciousness and forgiveness that go beyond human comprehension.  We see the lesson and know that it is generous and kind yet we find it nearly impossible to replicate in our own lives.  Let me set up the story for you.

The Civil War marched across our fledgling nation from April 12, 1861 until May 26, 1865, threatening to destroy a country that wasn’t even 100 years old.  Death tolls are hard to accurately report.  However, historians have suggested that 360,222 Union soldiers and 258,000 confederate soldiers lost their lives.  Other historians take the number considerably higher.  It is said that this represented about 2% of the existing population.

Knowing that the war couldn’t last forever, President Lincoln began drafting a way to heal a deeply divided nation.  On this day in 1863, he issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.  Assuming the Union would win, Lincoln’s proposal was to grant full pardons to all who served under the Confederacy and a restoration of all their rights, property, and possessions (except for their slaves).  States could rejoin the Union provided a mere 10% signed a statement of loyalty to the Constitution of the United States.

This initial proposal was rejected because the South wanted to retain their slaves.  Before the war could end, Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865.  For his re-election, Lincoln had chosen Andrew Johnson to be his Vice President.  Johnson was a Southerner who supported the Union.  Once Johnson was sworn into office following Lincoln’s death, he followed most of Lincoln’s reconciliation plans with his own twists.

“He announced his plan for Presidential Reconstruction on May 29, 1865, issuing two proclamations. The first granted amnesty and returned property to southerners willing to take a loyalty oath to the Constitution. However, many groups were excluded, including Confederate officials and wealthier planters with property valued at more than $20,000. Instead, these individuals had to personally apply for a pardon from the president. 

“The second proclamation outlined a plan for North Carolina, which served as a blueprint for state efforts. He appointed a provisional governor and instructed North Carolina to call a convention to amend its prewar constitution for readmittance into the Union.”¹ 

Neither plan offered any accusation or culpability against the soldiers or their leaders for the 258,000 who were killed.  How can this just be forgiven and ignored? This caused many in the Union to pushback against Lincoln and Johnson’s proposals but both men knew that for a nation to heal, this was necessary.  Otherwise, retribution and retaliation would serve to divide a nation even further apart.

We need to take a page out of Lincoln’s notes and reapply them to our time period!

Paul’s dealings with the church of Corinth caused him to expose some divisions that were taking place.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:3, “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”  In 1 Corinthians 11:18, Paul wrote, “For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you…”  What’s it going to take to heal the divisions in a church?

As the Southerners had to swear allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, all divided parties must swear allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word.  The Bible has the final word on the requirements of restoration and healing.  In those pages, we find the precepts and principles upon which the church is built, how it can be fixed, and what we can do to keep such division from happening again.

Then comes the matter of forgiveness.  Past wrongs must be forgotten.  Somehow, we must overcome the urge to hold the wrongs against the wrongdoer.  If the North could forgive the South for killing many of their people in war, how can we do any less than forgive those who have caused great injury against us?

Yes, trust had to be rebuilt and it took time.  But, there has to be a starting point.  Perhaps today needs to be a day where we offer up our own Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.  It’s time to put the past to rest and focus on what God wants us to do for the future.

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?  (22)  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)

¹https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-white-house-and-reconstruction

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