My heart aches this morning…as I continue to watch friends on both sides of challenging issues stand at a distance sharing comments and assumptions about each other. These are my friends! These are good hearted people!
Yes, at one level I’m hearing statements of “openness and love,” but they are almost always said at a safe distance from those they disagree with, then rallied by the support of those standing safely in their “camp.” Thinking it will help make a point, we too often threaten to walk away, moving our camps even further from each other. How does this get us anywhere?
Instead, what if…
- We were willing to step into each other’s shoes, into another’s life for a moment, and share our perspective from there?
- We were willing to care for and serve the “enemy” that we too often make out of those with whom we disagree?
- Instead of projecting opinion or belief, we were willing to be vulnerable with those on a different side, listening their story and THEN humbly sharing our own?
- Instead of just drawing conclusions across social media, a dinner table with “our people” or any sort of public platform, we chose to stand close to each other, even willing to cross over into another’s “territory” and walk our differences and discernment together?
Our country is facing an epidemic of loneliness and anxiety, and this way of interacting with each other only isolates us more. “The greatest tragedy in our churches today is not that we don’t love each other, it’s that we don’t know each other” (Shane Claiborne). There is no us or them in Christ’s eyes — We are ALL God’s children worthy of Love.
- What would it look like for those who follow Christ to do the tough work of truly getting to know each other?
On the path we are on, we — our country, our churches — risk implosion. It’s time to #LoveBeyondFear.
This song (story) sums it up pretty well (https://goo.gl/yn4CSb)
So, who is willing to walk this risky journey with me? It will be messy and heart wrenching, but maybe (just maybe) we can a discover a new way forward. Maybe (just maybe) we could discover a deeper, more common bond that unites us in mission and shares help, hope and healing with an angry, hurting and divided world — through Christ, who is the Ever-Present and Living Word of God, of Life and of Love.
Jesus said “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven… If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? …And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
[Jesus] “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Leave a Reply