Fine. You asked for it.
(Because someone asked a friend what I believe about these times)
Jesus went to synagogue.
Long before He overturned any moneychanger tables or preached that the Pharisees where “white-washed tombs,” it was His custom to attend synagogue (Luke 4:16).
The Son of God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Light, Life, and King of Kings managed to live among us, listen to our foolishness, witness our sin, recognize our hypocrisy, and yet, calmly walk among us teaching and loving.
More than that, He remained without sin, remained holy, fully human, fully God.
And now, His Spirit lives within us. So what’s our problem? If Jesus attended synagogue, surely we can listen to our neighbor.
Why can’t we manage to interact with our neighbor? To listen to the brother or sister with whom we disagree? To speak without screaming or retreating to hostile silence?
Why do we devise litmus tests to determine who deserves a hearing and who doesn’t?
Can you agree there’s evidence that America is fundamentally racist and that most whites are blind to their own privilege? Great— you’re with us.
Does the idea of more than two genders make you uncomfortable and do you question the wisdom of treating children with puberty blocking hormones? Good— you’re with the other us.
What? You believe life should be protected from conception? Traitor!
What? You wonder if maybe the church has gotten some things wrong about hell? Quietly shuts you out but thinking Compromiser!
Part of the Body of Christ is loudly hysterical— name-calling, judging, ready to tear down any comment they deem off-script, modern heresy.
Another part is in silent retreat— quietly name-calling, judging, ready to tear down any comment deemed off-script, ancient heresy resurrected.
One part writes the other off publicly, loudly, without hesitation. The other part does the same only know one sees.
One comes close to calling for the deaths of those who disagree. The other silently murders them in their hearts so functionally, they cease to exist.
And the only way we can meet for corporate worship is if we agree not to discuss what divides us and we call that unity. We even boast that we don’t discuss politics or disputable topics or sensitive issues even if that stunts our ability to do so.
But God doesn’t look on the outer person. God looks at the heart.
So, we have work to do.
Praise God, there are other parts of the Body.
There are faithful, merciful, biblical pastors and spiritual leaders desperately trying to minister to all, seeing right and wrong on all sides. Immersed in His Word, faithfully serving, praying, seeking God’s guidance, keeping informed of both the news and the headlines from Heaven. They teach according to what comes next according to the Holy Spirit, not the nightly news, yet still field accusations that they are serving one agenda or the other, often following the same sermon.
And there are many of you readers, faithfully following Jesus, refusing to choose a camp, willing to hear all sides and yet weighing all against God’s Word, the peacemakers, seeking to love, praying for wisdom, weeping often, researching, listening, and clinging to the hope of Christ. Tempted to “exit the building” and make your prayer closet a full-time monastery until Jesus returns but knowing that is not how the gospel is shared.
(And honestly, there is a whole world of faithful Jesus-followers focused, even in the face of intense persecution, on Christ alone, on passing the truth of the gospel on to every soul, to living with eyes, ears, heart, mouth, and mind surrended to Him alone.)
Jesus could have silenced His detractors with a Word. He dialogued with them, even when they accused Him of being the enemy.
The apostles and Paul tried to reason in the temple until they were thrown out. The early church didn’t remain in the upper room praying for change (although they prayed together daily and were devoted to the apostle’s teaching). They prayed on the move. They prayed in the work. They prayed in the conversations. They prayed on the road and where they camped in the night. They shared meals and labored in teams. When they disagreed, the leaders met and hashed it out.
Church history is full of conflict. The church was born on a battlefield but we aren’t victims, we’re fully equipped with everything we need for life and godliness. That’s the truth even when we’re overwhelmed.
There have always been the hysterical screamers and the silent retreaters. But, there has also always been a group who chose to search God’s Word, pray, reason, and continue to talk, to listen, to love, to break bread together and seek God’s Way as one people.
Here’s some truth:
Not everyone identifying as the church is actually part of the Body of Christ. We know this. We know there are even religious leaders who don’t know Jesus. Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
False teaching abounds. Our country regularly tests with scandalously high rates of biblical illiteracy so we know there’s high susceptibility for false teaching to flourish. Some who know Jesus become victims of that false teaching. Some are simply immature. Some have strongholds created by sinful actions or attitudes that lead to hypocrisy or a lack of love or compromise. The Bible warns us of this.
Political leaders are adept at exploiting the weaknesses of the church. Many have no scruples about causing division if it serves their purposes, and all are convinced they alone serve the greater good, but deception is rampant. Many of the deceivers are themselves deceived. We combat this with prayer, with God’s Word, with spoken and written truth, with courage, with faith, and with lives empowered by the Holy Spirit.
God is with us. He is not overwhelmed. He’s not screaming nor is He silent. He speaks as He always has and His sheep hear His voice. We have no reason to fear and we have every reason to continue following the only agenda that is eternal. It is a narrow path but those with ears to hear will find it and walk it together.
“We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls” (Hebrews 10:39)
Hold on, loved ones. Have courage. Don’t lose heart. Be bold. Hold on.
What is a strategy you use for continuing to live by faith in times of conflict and divide? I respond to every comment and reply to every email.
I really appreciate your inclusion of those in the middle who seek to understand, who find the good and the fault in the sides, and put faithfulness to the gospel ahead of cultural trends. The extremes get a lot of airplay. Peacemakers are boring. Thinkers lack compassion. The faithful have delusions. If you aren't an activist working to overturn evil, you are the people who let Hitler kill Jews. Pretty damning judgments. But I think most of us are quietly serving in our communities and being faithful in our work and in our families. Our sense of justice is offended by the shrill cries to embrace one extreme view without fair play to the complexity of the issues. Nicely done.
As I read the Bible I am reminded that God is not shocked by any of this mess America is in. I have also noticed that depending on where people are living is what the topics are and how each are being addressed. Friends living on the East coast bring up different issues than those who live on the West coast (like myself) It seems geographic culture plays a part in what tension is in each place Also I see how culture feeds into the same topics in how they are talked about. We all need to remember that we do not battle against flesh and blood but against the spiritual realm that seeks to harm, kill and destroy. Satan has convinced us we are fighting against flesh and blood because it gets our eyes off Jesus.