Navigating recent months and political events with so many friends who are people of
strong and varied convictions makes life something of minefield. Even a casual
comment has the potential of causing a rift that can take a long time to heal. A Facebook post that I made on Saturday, a sincere expression about my convictions about the sacredness of life, blew
up into a tempest of accusations, questions. Reading my friends' words, I felt like a soldier in no man’s land,
caught in the crossfire. Having people
disagree with me is not a new thing. Every pastor knows that leading a congregation
involves experiencing positive and negative responses to what is said and how
it is said. But, when friends do battle
over something I say, it is a reason for great sadness. This Monday morning
finds me in sorrow for my friends.
Christians are called to great grace, to profound love,
to enduring acceptance; not because
we all agree on everything, not because we think the same way, but because we
serve the same Lord. In a letter to a
bickering church, Paul cries with words that plead for peace. He says, "I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been
called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making
allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to
keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one
glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and
one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all."
(Ephesians 4:1-6, NLT)
We may find the convictions of another quiet unpleasant. We
may even think they are wrong. Indeed,
they may be wrong (or we could be) but unless there is open, persistent sin-
we have no reason to cut off relationship with those with who we
differ. A mark of spiritual maturity
is understanding that we, the Body of Christ, are called together by a shared
Covenant, not by common race, experience, or worldview.
Let’s be honest – life is simpler when we
eliminate people with opinions and/or personality traits we find disagreeable
from our circle of friends. It is great
to sit around with people who like the same football team, share our politics,
and understand our words without the need for explanation or clarification. The natural inclination is to create just those kinds of groups, even in our church. But, living that way is not the great vision that God has for His family. He has included white, black, rich, poor, liberal, conservative, Democrat and Republican, Ford and Honda drivers, in His call to grace, to shared spiritual gifts; to create something wonderful, amazing, and rich in texture that could only exist because of Jesus Christ.
We are taught that because of Christ’s love we are linked in
life. "For you are all children of
God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in
baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew
or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ
Jesus." (Galatians 3:26-28, NLT) Taking the principle of that passage, we might
write it into our time like this. Because you are children of God, saved by
Christ, you no longer are first identified as pro-life or pro-choice, as a Republican
or a Democrat, as a man or woman, as a Catholic or an Evangelical. Social
definitions are completely secondary to your one true calling – Christ-follower.
For some the path to unity is to mute our voices, to conceal our
convictions, to unfriend those who ‘offend’ us on Facebook. No, that is not the response that honors our
high calling. Instead, we patiently continue the conversation, we ask for understanding,
we pray hard for a supernatural work of love in us that preserves the family of
God and His Holy Church, not because it is fun or easy, but because in this
amazing expression of love and unity, what becomes clear to the world around us
is that we are people who have been transformed.
Here is a word from the Word. My earnest prayer and desire
is that it will convict us, call us, and unite us. "It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life.
Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you
want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom
grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single
sentence: Love others as you love
yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other,
watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will
your precious freedom be then?" (Galatians 5:13-15, The Message)
This blog is not an appeal for you to agree with me about
all issues. It is an appeal for love, for gentle acceptance, as is fitting
for children of the Heavenly Father.
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