Peace Child

I stumbled on a story about a missionary named Don Richardson. In 1962 he, his wife, and new baby went to New Guinea and serve as missionaries to a tribe that glorified  cannibalism and head hunting. Richardson learned that the greatest value of this tribe was treachery. For example, when he read them the story of Jesus and Judas the people began to clap and cheer. To them, Judas was the hero because treachery and betrayal are their highest value. If you could fool somebody into trusting you and then use that as an opportunity to cheat them, then you had embodied their culture’s highest value and achieved honor.

How do you explain the gospel to people like that? The gospel is 180 degrees in the opposite direction. They didn’t know what to do, so they prayed for wisdom and waited.  About this time, their tribe got into conflict with another neighboring tribe. People were literally dying right outside the windows of their home. The situation got so tense that Richardson decided to take his family and leave. However, by this time the tribe had grown to love the Richardsons.

A leader of the tribe begged, “No, don’t leave. We will make peace with the other tribe.” Richardson was skeptical that there could be peace between peoples who valued treachery and betrayal above all else.  

The two tribes came together and decided they would make peace with each other through the ceremony of the “peace child.” A leader from one tribe presented his young son to a leader from the other tribe, and that leader would do the same back. They exchanged sons. As long as each son lived, there would be peace between the tribes.  

This was the break Richardson needed to explain the gospel. If someone would give his son to his enemies, that man could be trusted.

That’s the story of Christmas, the good story that Jesus packed his glory into everything that is human for the very purpose of repairing the cosmic damage our sin has done to us and our relationship with the Father.  How do we know God loves us? He gave us his son – what more could he do? How can we ever doubt his intentions? And as long as that son (Jesus) lives, there will be peace.

Romans 5:10 For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!