Growing up in the church system I was always taught that the
pastor was the authority on anything spiritual. After all, they had been
‘called’ and had gone to college to be taught everything about God and the
bible.
I remember how impressed I was by pastors. If I had a
question about the bible I could make an appointment and go in and talk with the
pastor. I figured he would have all the answers.
As I got a little older, I became infatuated with some of
the big named evangelist. I would listen to them, send them money and if at all
possible, go to their crusades. I can remember thinking if I could only be like
them. They were super-spiritual and knew all about God and had the answers to
all spiritual questions.
I really thought that was the way to learn about God, by
going to church, reading the bible and getting all the wisdom of the pastors
and evangelists.
Fortunately, I got to a point where I realized the pastors and evangelists were no different than me. They did not have all the answers and they were not super-spiritual like I had always imagined. I came to understand that people are people. None are closer to God or more special to God than another. Yes, some are more knowledgeable due to more time reading and studying but no one is higher up or more important in God’s eyes.
Now days I really do not care much what men and women say,
it is just their opinion. They are humans like the rest of us. We can certainly
discuss things and get insight from one another, but God loves each of us the
same. The Spirit within us can guide and teach us without the help of any human
being.
If we believe the Spirit lives within us, why
are we more interested in what another human says? Why not learn how to hear
the voice of the Spirit from within rather than the thoughts and traditions of
men?
Enjoying the moment is a personal choice a person makes to be present in what they are currently experiencing and to give that specific point in time their full self. It’s a decision to open oneself up to be vulnerable and a realization the moment may or may not go as we desire. How I treat the one standing in front of me at any given time is also how I decide to enjoy the moment. To not live in the moment is live a life distracted. Distractions keep us from being present and enjoying the moments we live. A distraction is anything which keeps a person from giving their full attention to something else.
The Distraction of Regret
All of us experience things in our lives we wish had not happened or we would have handled differently if given another opportunity. These things range from decisions we’ve made which caused unforeseeable, maybe harmful, outcomes to decisions others have made which had adverse, negative, and possibly even devastating, effects on our lives. Regret imprisons us when we live focused on the “what ifs” and “what could have beens” of those decisions. Replaying scenarios repeatedly in the theater of our mind, we fixate on every aspect of those situations reliving the pain, hurt, anger, and sorrow as if it had just happened. If the consequences are of our own making, we feel we deserve whatever negative results have occurred and wallow in the misery of our shame much like the prodigal son in the hog pen. However, when forced to accept another’s decision we believe is simply outrageous or unfair, we respond much like the prodigal’s older brother. I believe his response of anger to the celebration of his brother’s quickly turned to sorrow and regret with the realization he already had access to everything he was working to attain. Resisting the distraction of regret is not refusing to admit sorrow and remorse for what may have happened, it’s a refusal to remain in that moment and let it define who you are. We must let the past make us wiser, stronger, and grateful for what we have lived through and experience. Regret gives way to self-loathing and bitterness and steals you from the life happening right before your eyes.
The Distraction of What’s to Come
The last four to six weeks prior to reflecting on and sharing about enjoying the moment were a trying and frustrating time as I wondered what lie ahead. Since I no longer have the desire to one day be a worship pastor, what does the future hold? I didn’t begin the blog with aspirations I would one day write full-time, but is it now something to consider? Are there opportunities yet to be discovered which would allow more time for ministry and still support the family? Do I even want to be involved in a ministry at all? What exactly does ministry look like now anyway? Is there an opportunity ahead which would allow Shannon and me to spend more time together helping others while providing an income as well? If those opportunities presented themselves would I be willing to take the risks to make them succeed?
All these questions swirling in my head created a cloudy fog I had trouble navigating. Fatigue and restlessness plagued me as I just could not let go of figuring out what the future holds. Questions swirled in my head like a tornado waking up to start the day, sitting at my desk at work, spending time with the family, working out at the gym, and drifting to sleep at night. The distraction of what’s to come kept me from enjoying my everyday life and, no doubt, caused me to miss small moments of awe and wonder which occurred in daily interactions with coworkers, family, and friends. I was so caught up in determining a destination, I was forgetting to enjoy the journey. While on vacation, in finishing a book I have been struggling to complete since January, I stumbled upon the prayer below from Thomas Merton in the closing pages:
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
This prayer changed my thinking and reminded me I don’t need to know what lies or even have an idea of where I’m going. I simply needed to rest in the moment and satisfaction of my desire to please my Father and His full knowledge of my desire and willingness to lead me. It brought me to a point of consciously reminding myself to live and experience whatever moment I find myself in. I can remember very vividly afternoons spent in the ocean with my family thinking, “Nothing matters right now except the fact I am here with them and we are together. What’s for dinner is not important. The drive home in a few days does not matter. What may be happening at work right now is not important. I am here with my family getting battered by waves in the ocean, having water gun fights in the pool, and we are having the time of our lives.” After reading that prayer, making it my own, and making a mental decision to enjoy the moment, I can say this was quite honestly the best vacation we may have possibly ever had.
There’s one final distraction I want to discuss, but, due to the nature of the distraction and how it relates to the churchboy, I will hold it for my next post.
Until then, I leave you with the following reminders:
Regarding Regret: In the Broadway musical Rent, composer Jonathan Larson urges us, “Forget regret, or life is yours to miss,”
Regarding What’s to Come: In Switchfoot’s opening track of their Native Tongue album, we are implored to Let It Happen:
Looking back over the postings of Done with Religion, we started with a few posts in May of 2010 and another in February 2011. Not until July of 2011 did we start regular and continual postings on this site. Since then we have had eight years of continual writing at Done with Religion. The time has sure flown by but it has been fun learning and meeting new people along the way.
Over the years I have seen a change in my views, beliefs and
interpretations of what I believe the bible says and what God meant for the Church.
Church being the body of Christ, not a building or an organization.
My views and beliefs changed a little over time while growing up in the organized church. Yet after my wife and I walked away from the organization I have seen even more changes since being outside the walls of religion.
I think it is easy to get set in our ways, to live within the box of organized religion and stop thinking for ourselves.
I believe that the Spirit of Christ lives within us and we
will do much better to focus on hearing directly from the Spirit rather than
the many different voices of men and women trying to tell us what God wants us
to do. There is nothing wrong with getting ideas and opinions from others, but
never put your full trust into people. We have the Spirit living within us and
we should be constantly listening for that still, small voice to guide us in
our life.
I believe we will be constantly changing and adjusting our beliefs in this world. Living for God is something that is alive and constantly changing as the Spirit reveals new truths to us as we are able to accept them.
Over these eight years we have seen changes in views and beliefs as well as changes in writers. Two new regular writers and one guest blogger have been added and they have made a very good addition to the views, insights and writing styles of Done with Religion. I look forward to the next eight years and I think it will be interesting to look back at that point and see what God has taught us and how he changed us as we seek to show his love, grace and freedom to others.
“So let’s get to the point, let’s roll another joint Let’s head on down the road There’s somewhere I gotta go And you don’t know how it feels No, you don’t know how it feels to be me”. – Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Do we really know “how it feels” to be in someone else’s
shoes? Can we really comprehend the magnitude of other people’s experiences?
Hard to say, really. I know for myself;
it is not easy trying to empathize and relate to others experiences and dispositions.
We all attempt and often fail miserably. Often, our motives are what really
play a huge part in how we engage with others and their issues. Coming from the
Christian perspective, I think we are on the failing end of making a positive
difference in others who are different then us.
It has become a competition in winning the souls of others,
instead of building authentic relationships. Numerous of factors come into play
of why this is. Not to get to long winded on this blog post, but the biggest
driving force is the concept of hell. The Christian tradition has morphed into
a factory of “get people of hell in the afterlife” instead of letting people
experience “heaven on earth in the here and now”. Fear, greed, and the us vs.
them motif is the foundation of this unfortunate state of affairs we are
currently experiencing. When you make a
belief system of fear and hate into a thriving institution, the effects are
direly devastating.
But, I don’t think all is lost (yes, very optimistic of me I
know). There always has been another
spark and remnant that comes out of the evil empire that brings about hopeful
change. I would like to quote this verse from the Christian scriptures that
brings to light these two contending ideas of winning souls vs. entering in
genuine relationships:
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To
those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under
the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I
became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under
Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became
weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people,
that I might by all means save some. I
do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
The premise I take here (from the many different interpretations and commentary I have found with this scripture verse, and guess what? That’s ok!), Paul was trying to bring about blessings to those he made contact with for the sake of the gospel. It states: “I have become all things to all people…in order to save some”. It has the “winning souls” rhetoric here and to the first century readers that could have been more of a way of getting to a better way of being to escape the oncoming destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D (just a little side note hehe). But, I think how Paul finished up this passage is showing the real intention of “becoming all things to all people” (the true relationship builder): SO THAT I MAY SHARE IN ITS BLESSINGS! This right here is the point of entering in relationships with others. This is what the Gospel of Christ should bring to ALL PEOPLE.
It about truly knowing people. When Jesus says: To know God and His Son,
this knowing is ginosko and this literally means “a felt knowing”, as in
RELATIONAL! No matter who it is–black, white, gay, straight–experiencing the
blessings of peace which produces love is what it’s all about. It is going out
there and becoming friends with others (I know we can’t do this with everyone,
but I think we can fucking do a better job than what we are doing now)! This is
what brings us out of the hell we sometimes find ourselves in this life. The
Kin-dom reality is about the here and now.
We will never develop and evolve (aka salvation) as a species until we
realize that its real relationships that will get us there…
“Self-sufficiency makes God experience impossible! That’s
why Jesus showed up in this world as a naked, vulnerable one, a defenseless
baby lying in the place where animals eat. Talk about utter relationship! Naked
vulnerability means I’m going to let you influence me; I’m going to allow you
to change me. The Way of Jesus is an invitation to a Trinitarian way of living,
loving, and relating—on earth as it is in the Godhead. We are intrinsically
like the Trinity, living in absolute relatedness. To choose to stand outside of
this Flow is the deepest and most obvious meaning of sin. We call the Flow
love. We really were made for love, and outside of it we die very quickly.”
“With the recent rise of progressive “Christianity” in the last few years, it’s no surprise that one of the prevailing themes is social justice. Many denominations have been caught up in the movement forever. But social justice is not the gospel, and saying that it is, is heresy.”
How about that quote? Makes you feel all good and warm
inside, right (NOT)? So many things to discuss with the current slam-campaign against
the current “social justice” Gospel issue. What gives? Why are we seeing such a
surge of warnings and statements against this idea? Look, from the perspective
of the Christian tradition, the Gospel has been on the hot seat ever since
Jesus presented it–all the way to Paul and Peter/James (Gentile converts vs The
Jerusalem Church) and the debates of what all this good news really looks like
for the participants of the faith. The same old tale of us vs. them.
We have seen the Gospel in the West, for example, being more
of a system of beliefs then a way of how one lives out their life. This stems
from numerous factors (both the “religious and secular”)–from the reformation
and it’s revolt against the corrupted hierarchy, to the enlightenment and it’s doorway
to free thinking. This opened up a whole new way of how we look at the good
news of what Jesus came to proclaim. It’s no longer something just a few
“religious” people get to enjoy or other “secular” individuals get to reject.
We are discovering (and rediscovering) that it was always news that set the
captives free (I think any human would agree that we all feel trapped at
times)!
The Gospel should always be seen as a way to bridge the gap
between the outcast and the conformed, the poor and rich, the black and white,
the gay and straight, the man and woman, the transsexual and the heterosexual,
the child and adult (Gal. 3:28-get the picture?). We cannot be bamboozled by
this notion that the Gospel is just one tight net idea that once examined and
believed, no other type of suggestions or behaviors can stem from it. The
Gospel is a plethora of creative and innovative ways of being in the time and
place we are given.
It’s not just a set of beliefs (atonement theories) to
believe in, nor is it one certain type of action within ones culture (social
justice). The Gospel involves those ideas and actions, for sure! But, its
really just simply good news; which everyone needs nowadays. The purpose of
news, which is good, is to propel oneself and his/her social environment to
beneficial new heights that have not yet been reached. It’s a reality where all
are unified but still diversified. It’s a group effort along with the
individuals surge. It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that (a little
D Mob for you hehe).
No matter what illusions we were given with this Gospel
message of Jesus, one thing is for sure: It’s good, it’s here and it can be a
reality that we all can experience. We don’t have to bring the accusatory
spirit when one is deciding to put this beautiful gospel into action. Let
social justice be part of this beautiful gospel. Let certain beliefs that come
out of this gospel be for those individuals or denominations to have (let their
actions speak). Let’s all just relax and mind our own business when it comes to
telling and experiencing this Gospel of the Kingdom! LOVE and be peacemakers,
for fuck-sakes!? (Matthew 5:9)…
“What if Jesus was not offering his followers an ethical system to follow, but rather was inviting them to enter into a life of love that transcends ethics, a life of liberty that dwells beyond religious laws? The difference between following an ethical system and being consumed by love can be seen in the way that ethical systems seek to provide a way to work out what needs to be done so that it can be carried out. In contrast, love is never constrained, it never sits back, it always seeks to do more than what is demanded of it.” – Peter Rollins
It’s that time of year again. This coming Monday my son begins his fourth and final year of band camp for his upcoming senior year of high school. When he began his high school marching band career four years ago, I did not realize it would rekindle the love of halftime shows and band festivals I once experienced myself. It’s not that my admiration for the art had ever really faded, but dormant memories of after school practices, Friday night football games, and Saturday competitions resurfaced for the first time in many years. Many times over the last three years I’ve mentally been taken back to playing stand tunes, loading and unloading buses, moving equipment, and anxiously awaiting to take the field for performance.
At one competition last fall, just as a band had taken the field and was about to begin, I heard a simple phrase I do not recall ever being uttered at a band competition. Once the PA announcer had given the command to enter the field in competition and the spectators had fallen quiet in anticipation, three little words were heard from the band director standing on the sideline, “Enjoy the moment!”
Those three words stuck in my head. I knew from experience all the work, energy, sweat, dedication, and effort required to get to this point. For the last three months the students had prepared and rehearsed meticulously every minute musical and visual detail yet to be revealed in the minutes to follow. A typical marching show lasts between eight and nine minutes and is the result of over two hundred hours of practice which many times consists of repeating the same thirty seconds of the program constantly for half an hour or more. Every second and every minute of rehearsal and each football game performance had been building to this moment and the final words of instruction are not, “Give your all!”, or “This is it!”, or “Remember . . . “, but simply, “Enjoy the moment!”
To enjoy something is to experience it with joy and find pleasure and satisfaction in it. A moment is an exact point in time. To enjoy the moment is to experience this point in time with joy, pleasure, and satisfaction. Put a different way, to “enjoy the moment” is to “be here now.” I’ve had a coworker once use that phrase as a password. At first glance, it seemed to indicate a lack of patience, but upon closer look it serves as a reminder to be present where you are.
For the sake of storytelling and narrative of this post, it would be amazing to write from the perspective of one who has conquered this idea. I can’t say whether anyone else in attendance, in the stands or on the field, was struck by the director’s words, but the image of that moment is etched in my memory. As awe-inspiring as it would be to write how it was a life changing moment and I have enjoyed every moment which has come my way since that blustery Saturday afternoon last October, to do so would be false and a lie. Still yet, the words echo in my head.
In the posts and weeks ahead, I intend to take a closer a look at what it means to enjoy the moment, why we often do not enjoy the moment, and exactly how we can truly enjoy the moment.
I look forward to the posts to come and sharing my thoughts with you.
Galatians 2:16 – nevertheless knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus
We Christians so often spend our time working at trying to
obey the Ten Commandments and trying to do the right thing when in actuality we
do not need to be trying to keep the law at all.
We know we are saved by grace but we will still try to mix in some good works by our own effort. We go to church every time the door is open, we tithe our ten percent, we will not smoke, drink, dance or go to movies. We look down and condemn those who do not do what we feel the Bible commands. We feel guilty every time we mess up and think God is going punish us if we do not do everything we know is right to do as Christians. It is all work, work, work.
What happened to grace? What happened to being saved through faith in Christ and Him alone. Not Jesus plus works, not Jesus plus baptism, not Jesus plus obeying the law. We are saved through faith in Christ and we do not have to do any of these things. We do not have to avoid certain things to be loved by God. We have a freedom in Christ that was bought and paid for with the death and resurrection of Jesus. That does not mean we just live our lives doing whatever we want, but we live in the freedom we have through grace. We do things out of love, love for God and love for others. It is no longer out of obligation or trying to follow the law.
Let’s stop putting all the rules and regulations on ourselves and others that we think will make us better people. Let’s stop adding a mixture of law and grace by trying to earn the love of God by our works. Let’s start loving God and loving others and enjoy the freedom God has provided by his grace.
When thinking about all that is going on today about gay
rights and transgender rights, I have found that most of the time both groups
are majorly discriminated against. Often it is christian people who do a lot of
the discriminating.
Many christians seem to think it is best to come against
these two groups as a way of showing that we are in favor of christian values
and we take a stand for God. Personally, as a christian I think this is
completely wrong and so against what Jesus taught and showed us in regard to
how to treat people. He accepted and spent time with all kinds of people,
mostly people who the religious crowd would not even talk to let alone spend
time.
Why is it we think taking a stand against someone or
something is the way to show true christian love and acceptance? Why is it in a
world with so many diverse people and beliefs we feel the need to openly defend
our way as if it is the only way?
As a christian I do believe in living for God and showing His love to everyone. That does not mean everything I do and believe is right. That does not mean other people and beliefs are wrong. No matter what we choose to believe or how we choose to live, everyone deserves to be treated with respect and accepted as is.
A good friend of mine is a firefighter and he shared a
paragraph from an ethics class he recently attended. It reads: ‘Equal Services
for All. Always ensure that the services you and your crew are providing are
equal for everyone on the scene. Never discriminate because of race, color,
religion, age, sex, or disability. If you become aware of another firefighter
discriminating against someone, rectify the situation immediately and report it
to your chief. Discrimination should never be tolerated’. To me this sounds
more like it came from Jesus telling his followers how to treat others.
I believe that taking a stand for christian values should be
positive not negative. It is not showing what we are against, being mean,
condemning, unaccepting and discriminating. It is showing what we are for in
Christ, being caring, kind, showing love and acceptance to everyone.
We certainly are not all going to agree on everything. We
are all going to make our choices on what to believe and how to live based on
what we feel is right or best for us. Yet in those differences there is no
reason we cannot respect, accept and love each other knowing that God loves
each and every one of us.
It is time to set aside our differences, set aside
discrimination, set aside prejudices and doctrinal beliefs and show the love of
God to everyone we meet.
We Americans are easily impressed by all things big and successful. We find it almost impossible to gainsay that which has massive popular endorsement. So the assumption is that if a particular message can fill churches and arenas and propel books onto bestseller lists, then it must be a good thing. – Brian Zahnd
Bigger, stronger and faster, it’s the only way to survive
and thrive in the good old USA. It has become the mantra of modern-day
capitalism. The consumerism culture thrives on the constant banter of “we want
it now and more of it”! We as a species have been leading the charge and now
are seeing the horrible and harmful effects in our communities and environment.
Within the Christian platform, we have seen how using this
consumer culture tactic, enables devastating spiritual and physical carnage.
The Mega Church has become the mascot of this mass consumption crusade through
its ideologies and practices. Now, every entity has its anomalies (like all
things in life). There are some heathy and good results coming from mega
churches, no doubt (I have experienced it firsthand). But, from an overarching
perspective, the fruit of the mega church doesn’t look so good.
Here are just a few examples of what happens when the
tribalistic big church group think runs the show:
– Too big to fail
– Prohibits intellectual diversity
– Pastor egomaniac syndrome
– Misappropriated funds
– Sexual misconduct
All of this leads to unhealthy relationships which then
produces unhealthy communities. When we make church a “corporation”, we open-up
all the rules and regulations that need a corporation to be successful. It
comes more of a place to compete instead of a place to heal. When this becomes
the priority (bigger and better) we lose the capacity to really step into discipleship
(loving the least of these).
Just recently, we have seen this model of church cause great
harm and pain. The Village Church and its head pastor Matt Chandler were caught
up in a tragic incident that resulted in sexual abuse. On Feb. 17, 2018, Ms.
Bragg and her husband, reported to the Village that their daughter, at about
age 11, had been sexually abused at the church’s summer camp for children.
Since then, Matthew Tonne, who was the church’s associate children’s minister,
had been investigated by the police, indicted and arrested on charges of
sexually molesting Ms. Bragg’s daughter. [1.]
With this devastating tragedy, you would expect any ethical
organization (especially a church) to do whatever it takes to bring justice to
this girl and her family. Not only that, but love and support from the
leadership. This never happened as Ms. Bragg stated:
Ms. Bragg waited for church leaders to explain what had
happened and to thoroughly inform other families in the congregation. She
waited for the Village to take responsibility and apologize. She waited to have
even one conversation with Mr. Chandler, a leader she had long admired.
But none of that ever came.
“You can’t even take care of the family you know,” she
remembered thinking as she walked out of the large auditorium. “Don’t tell more
victims to come to you, because you’re just going to cause more hurt.”[2.]
AHHH! This is fucking unacceptable! How can you sleep at
night Village clergy?! Matt Chandler, where are you at?! How does it come to
this? Well, I think what we see here is when you are part of a non-stop
“bigger, stronger, faster” locomotive church model, you plow through anything
that gets in your way (disregarding all collateral damage). When you run a
community based on American consumerism ethics, you become too big to fail and
will not accept defeat. The machine has too much of a good thing going to worry
about a little sexual abuse…what a diabolical program.
What’s the lesson we can learn from all of this? I don’t
know but I think we need to realize the danger when it comes to our hyper
competitive consumer culture. If we claim to participate in the divine love of
the universe that engulfs the air we breathe and the people we trust, we must
create healthy spaces for Christs collective to grow. This earth in time and
space and the forever now that lies between is to important and precious to
ignore. We must humble ourselves and let go of our egos to let the Spirit guide
us to new heights. It’s the least of these that we are here to serve, not the
power-hungry tyrants and their cutthroat empires…
But the modern-day church doesn’t like to wander or wait.
The modern-day church likes results. Convinced the gospel is a product we’ve
got to sell to an increasingly shrinking market, we like our people to function
as walking advertisements: happy, put-together, finished—proof that this Jesus
stuff WORKS! At its best, such a culture generates pews of Stepford Wife–style
robots with painted smiles and programmed moves. At its worst, it creates
environments where abuse and corruption get covered up to protect reputations
and preserve image. – Rachel Held Evans
How is it that humans, who all have the same basic needs, can disagree so fiercely about what is right and what is wrong? It amazes me how different our opinions can be on what exactly constitutes right and wrong. And of course, we all are thoroughly convinced that we are correct.
We each think that we know what is right, yet in the defense of our beliefs, we have a tendency to be awfully vicious to each other. This is not new. Humans have done this from the beginning.
To be sure, there are those few out there who have wholly committed to doing evil—to hurting others for their own profit or pleasure. But probably more evil has been done by the rest of us in the name of good or in the name of God. This concept deserves some serious consideration, but I’ll save that for another time.
On the surface, we are all concerned about what is right, what is fair, and what is just. Yet when we try to nail down exactly which actions are good and which are bad, none of us agree.
Ironically, this is what started humanity down the violent course we are on. The problem is not that some people are good and some are evil. The problem is that in our efforts to define good and evil, we conceive evil.
So in the name of being pro-life, we deprecate those who are pro-abortion. In the name of women’s rights, we vilify those who are anti-abortion. In the name of Christianity, we disparage homosexuals. And in the name of gay rights, we malign those who think that homosexuality is unhealthy. We say that we are pro-tolerance—except toward the intolerant. And we say that it is wrong to oppress others—unless they are oppressors. And we’re anti-hate—except when we hate the haters.
And so the cycle of conflict twists and seethes in a downward spiral that threatens to suck us into an inescapable vortex of our own making.
So here’s the dilemma: two diametrically opposed concepts can’t be true under the same conditions at the same time. Homosexuality, abortion, oppression, social justice—these things can’t be both right and wrong at the same time. So who is right? And does it matter?
I would say that what is right does matter—who is right does not. The endless quarreling is convincing nobody. Those who have firmly held opinions about any given issue will not change their opinion simply because someone passionately disagrees with them. The arguing is unproductive and has become a wedge that is driving us further apart. So where does that leave us? We could continue to use the legal system to coerce others to behave the way we think they should behave and pray that dirty politics is the most devastating result of our conflict. But perhaps there’s a better way.
It seems to me that, when it comes to questions of morality, the better way is to seek the highest Good—that is, to seek God above all else. When we do that, we will be moving in the right direction. Does that guarantee that we will all agree on what is right and what is wrong?
Unfortunately, no, we still will not all agree. But even in our disagreement, if we are truly seeking God, we will begin to treat each other with love. We will never bridge the gap between us until we decide to love each other. We will never understand someone else’s opposing point of view until we see them through the lens of love.
Yet too often, we place conditions on love. (I’ll love you when you see abortion the way I see it. I’ll love you when you see women’s rights the way I see them.) The love must come first. Only when we choose to love others, regardless of their opinions, will we begin to understand them.
Choosing to love others does not mean that we have to compromise our beliefs. We do not have to do or support things that we believe are wrong. But we can still reach out in love to those who do not agree with us. Will everyone behave this way? Unfortunately, no. But those who follow Christ should lead by example in this matter.
Above all, we must love each other. Love will facilitate understanding, which will, in turn, further break down barriers. When we choose to love others regardless of their opposing viewpoints, we will discover that love is the mechanism that God has provided to help us transcend our differences.
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