You've seen the bumper stickers that incorporate symbols from numerous faiths to form the word "coexist." This powerful image suggests a simple solution to an ancient problem. "Coexist" expresses a nearly universal sentiment—after all, aren't we tired of fighting with each other? It has become an idealistic mantra, but it is flawed and empty at its core.

Why coexist is so attractive—and so inadequate

Today, it is easier than ever to insulate oneself from the reality of ideological conflict. We filter out unwanted attention from those who are physically around us by putting our headphones on. Meanwhile we use those same headphones to reassure our own beliefs. We fill our minds with the political, social and cultural influences of our own choosing, ensuring that we face no resistance to the values that we have decided for ourselves.

With the Internet, anyone can find an entire community that will accept them as they are, no matter how obscure their beliefs. People are no longer bound by the cultural constraints of the geographic region in which they live. We don't rely on our physical community for support, validation or acceptance—we have found a path of lesser resistance.

This is a luxury that not everyone can afford. But for those who can, it creates the illusion of peace in their lives. By restricting our interactions to people who believe and think as we do, we reduce our day-to-day potential for disagreement. We fool ourselves into thinking that we are reasonable, peaceful people who have no problem getting along with anyone; we are true masters of the coexist lifestyle. The reality is that we are avoiding conflict rather than solving it.

The word "coexist" implies nothing about maintaining positive relationships with other human beings, and this is where the mantra falls tragically short. If all that is expected of me is to simply exist side-by-side with other people, then those relationships should demand no more effort on my part than my relationship with a brick wall.

Israel—a failure of coexistence

I recently moved to Israel, home to the world's most controversial religious dispute and a fitting case study for the coexist philosophy. In fact, the iconic bumper-sticker is rooted in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The design was first displayed in 2001 at the Museum on the Seam, an art museum in Jerusalem that specializes in controversial social and political topics. The original image included the Islamic crescent, the Jewish Star of David, and the Christian cross, with further embellishments added later to help commercialize the concept.

The modern state of Israel came into existence in 1948, just three years after World War II ended in Europe. Jews in Europe had been subjected to racism and violence for centuries. They eventually gained international sympathy following Hitler's "final solution"—the policy that resulted in the systematic murder of over 6 million European Jews, later referred to as the Holocaust. By 1948 hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over the world had already relocated to Israel in hope of a home where they would never be persecuted again. Since then, more than 3 million more have followed in their footsteps. One could say that they simply wanted a fair chance to coexist with the rest of the world.

However there were already people living in the land of Israel at that time. They're referred to now as the Palestinians. Millions of Jews felt that they could only be safe in a Jewish nation, but that meant sharing land, water and other local resources with their new (and predominantly Muslim) neighbors. In order to succeed, they could not be content to simply plug in their headphones and shut out those around them. Instead they had the choice to either cooperate with each other or fight for control and hope to survive.

Every period of peace between Israel and its neighbors has felt merely like a cease-fire. Even today, both sides are making efforts to coexist—that is, to prevent the next devastating outbreak of war—but they do so without making any progress on solving their core problems. This demonstrates the inherent weakness of the coexist philosophy: In the real world, it amounts to pretending like your problems don't exist. It removes the potential for healing and allows old wounds to fester until finally they can't be contained anymore.

A poignant example is the "status quo" at the Temple Mount area. The Temple Mount is the platform on which God's temple once stood, making it a holy site in both Judaism and Christianity. The Temple had been destroyed for over 630 years by the time the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built on that same platform, which eventually became the thirrd holiest site in Islam. 

The State of Israel seized control of the Temple Mount in the Six Day War of 1967, and the status quo was formulated to maintain a fragile peace that is constantly on the verge of collapse. Access to the Temple Mount and the restrictions about who can worship there are determined by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. Currently non-Muslims can only enter during limited hours and are not allowed to pray. These rules are actually enforced by the Israeli police—and vigorously! Both sides want the rules to be followed so that they can maintain peace.

However this doesn't stop everyone involved from growing bitter over the situation. Radical Jewish groups regularly challenge the arrangement by praying there, often resulting in a violent backlash. Muslim leaders continually accuse Israeli politicians of acting secretly to change the rules to allow Jews to pray there or worse, put it under Jewish control altogether. Instead of having an honest conversation about the lack of trust or the freedom of religious expression, both sides are concerned only with upholding an imperfect solution.

Control over the Temple Mount is not even the main obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. It is merely a representative example of how unwillingness to work through a problem can only set the stage for future conflict. This type of coexistence is a losing strategy for everyone involved. God, on the other hand, has a winning strategy!

Designed for more

Think about the personal conflicts in your life. Have you ever resolved a problem with someone by ignoring it? How will it feel when you've alienated yourself from that person but you eventually need their cooperation? Mankind was not designed to live in isolation from one another, content to coexist at a distance.

The story of our separation from one another begins with our separation from God. When Satan convinced Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he convinced her that she could become like God by eating from the tree (Genesis 3:5). If that were true, then Adam and Eve could have just coexisted with God; God could have His own set of rules, and mankind could have theirs. Satan successfully obscured a vital fact: that we need God. And from this lie sprung another: that we don't need each other.

All but one human being who has ever lived has fallen victim to these two lies. But by His grace, God "has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18). God was not content to coexist with a sinful mankind because He knew the truth: sin brings pain, hardship and ultimately death to everyone it touches. Instead, He has a plan to patiently and lovingly correct us, with the ultimate promise of changing us so that we are able to live with Him, without sin, forever!

Moreover, as followers of Christ, reconciliation is a vital part of the life that God has called us to live. Once we have been reconciled to God, the extent to which we can achieve peace in the world today is determined by our commitment to developing godly character. In Romans 12, Paul summarized some of the important principles that will allow us to do more than merely coexist with one another:

"Bless those who curse you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:14-18).

Paul's instruction teaches us that living peaceably with one another requires more than waving to each other from afar; it involves a change of heart, the right attitude, and willingness to work together. Today as society becomes more and more insular, it is tempting to seek an impersonal solution—to agree to disagree, to simply coexist. This is a dangerous trap, one that amounts to giving up on healing what has been broken.

Thankfully, God did not deal with us in this way! Instead He taught us a fundamentally better approach: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Romans 5:8).