DISSENSION AND DIVISION
It’s the end of the world, everything is
going to be awful, what will we do?”
That’s the way a lot of people feel about the election results that
resulted in Donald Trump becoming our president elect.
Of course, that is also the way a lot of
people felt when President Obama was elected and re-elected, and when George W.
Bush was elected and re-elected, and when Bill Clinton was elected and
re-elected…and I suspect it was experienced by people like Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison as well.
A number of us
struggle even more with the way dissension and division seems to be growing in
our country, which as our pastor pointed out last night, was the kind of
sentiment that once led to a Civil War in our country and the deaths of
thousands of people. And the truth is,
one can follow that thread back century after century, nation after nation to
find that humans are experts in arguing and fighting. It is getting along with people who think
differently and focusing on common ground that is hard for us.
Perhaps this is part of the cause of
divorce…that we are better at arguing, fighting and creating dissension than we
are at compromising, finding middle ground and working together with others who
think differently than ourselves. What
we see on an international and national scale is replayed in home and home
around the globe. If we can’t find a way
to work with a person to whom we have committed our love and our lives, then
how will we ever learn to work with individuals with whom we have no personal
involvement and few shared values?
It is hard to admit that maybe somebody
else’s point of view is just as valid as your own. It is hard to let go of something important
to you so that others can have something important to them. It is hard to put as high a priority on
another person’s values as you place on your own. But, it seems to me, that is exactly what is
required to make a marriage work, and to make a country of diverse people work
as well. It is also what is required of
us sometimes when we stand for what is right, even at personal cost, especially
when we speak up for others who can never pay us back and for whom nobody else
is willing to speak.
It also seems to me that these kinds of
things are embedded in the fabric of Christianity as described in the Bible
(all quoted from NASB):
John 15:13, the words of Jesus-- Greater love
has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
Matthew
5:44-45, again from Jesus-- But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in
heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Philippians 2:3-4, penned by Paul-- Do nothing
from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another
as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own
personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Colossians 3:12-14, again from Paul-- So, as those who have been
chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another,
and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the
Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on
love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
1 John 4:16-17, penned by John-- We have come to know and
have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who
abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected
with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He
is, so also are we in this world.
James 3:18, penned by James-- And the seed whose fruit is
righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
In whatever arenas of your life where there
is division, dissension, or the urge to participate in them, let me challenge
you to be the one who is big enough to create peace and forbearance
instead. We have plenty of people demanding
their own rights and interests in the world.
We need more willing to lay down their lives for a greater cause, for
someone and something beyond themselves.
I’m not one who engages in magical thinking and believes everyone will
come together and join hands around a cozy campfire.
But I do believe each of us can make a
difference in our part of the world and in our relationships when we are
willing to truly care about the needs of others instead of obsessing about our
own.
Who knows, maybe somebody reading
this is contemplating divorce, and that slight change of attitude could be the
very thing to turn their marriage around!
No comments:
Post a Comment