What’s wrong with the world isn’t always ‘over there’

This is primarily to the Christian. And as I write this, I speak to myself. One of the best things about writing is how God’s Spirit admonishes me in the errors of my ways. I’m constantly getting it wrong. Yet, I am practicing repentance as much as I can.

Like many Christians as well as those who do not believe, the past few days and weeks have been tumultuous, notwithstanding which side of the ‘freedom of speech/religion’ fence you sit on. The tussle within me has swung continually back and forth from, “Lord, why do I care so much about this?” to “Lord, when will this go away; haven’t we had enough outrage already?”

I’m in a precarious position from a livelihood and heart perspective. I work in Christian schooling, as a chaplain, and as a manager of a national peacemaker ministry that serves Christian schools. I’m entrenched in conservative Christianity. Yet, I find my views are not completely aligned with the vocal right that represents the Christian schooling voice in Australia. This concerns me. Am I unfaithful? I know that my denominational faith espouses liberty of conscience, well, in theory at least. Am I still allowed a differing view? Is my view that much at a discord to the flow of the stream that my career/ministry is in jeopardy? Well, if I listen to the argument of the Folau camp I needn’t worry; they’ll have my back, right? I won’t have to worry about my discordant view because they will respect my disagreement to the point that my job will be safe. Well, I’m not so sure. My gut tells me I’m out on a limb already. There are many stakeholders I serve who could be dismayed at my views. It’s not that I disagree with a position the religious right have taken, it’s more how they’ve done it.

But this isn’t the only problem I have. I have a theological problem with Christians who war with other Christians. We will be called children of God if we are peacemakers, said Jesus. So, if we’re warmongers instead, what does that make us? What do we make of Jesus’ final command—“Love one another as I have loved you, and in that way the world will know you’re my disciples.” You see, it just isn’t good enough that as Christians we attack one another. Whichever side we are on, it is sin. And all sides of all Christian arguments would do better to confess their sin and repent. Repentance is not a once off deal as even Folau has suggested in his infamous post.

Here’s another problem. None of us can cope with disagreement these days. It’s probably a mix of the social media culture we live in, where each to our view is king or queen, together with the fact that many of us live in comparative privilege, or at least have learned to think in privileged ways. We more aptly think of the other person as being the privileged one, but just sense the hypocrisy in that; as proof, think of others who disagree with you and their views of you. It’s fortunate that what we don’t know doesn’t hurt us. We aren’t as good as we think we are. Neither are they. We all think there should be freedom of speech and religion until someone vehemently disagrees with our stance—and then we shut the other down. All it takes is one party being offended and it’s downhill from there. If you think, “No, I don’t do that,” I think you’re a liar. We’re all easily exasperated.

A further problem is, no matter how much I know you, and no matter the trenches we’ve fought alongside each other in, no matter how much we’ve been ‘for’ each other in the past, when an issue emerges we’re both passionate about yet diametrically opposed on, it turns into such a sharp disagreement it separates close friends—think Paul and Barnabas. (And even Paul called the Galatians ‘stupid’ at one point!) We are all easily hurt, and how tragic it is when a solitary issue of ideology separates close friends. But it happens all the time. And it is just so easy for both to say, “I’ve been abused!”

I could have titled this article, “division is the devil’s dastardly tool to divide the discerning.” By this I mean, all people who care, care deeply to the point of outrage, and our outrage carries us all the way to the hills our relationships die on. And ultimately, we fail to live out the final command of Jesus—“Love one another as I have loved you”—which would be our definitive evangelistic witness to an unbelieving world—“In this way the world will know you’re my disciples.” The world sees us behaving like Christ’s own when we behave like peacemakers.

Overseas, there is the issue of the US immigrant/refugee crisis. It is dividing families and churches and the people of God. You have Dr Russell Moore and Gerry Falwell Jr. And a gargantuan barney!—a Twitter tirade. Everyone taking sides, especially Christians. It seems more important in the heat of the moment that we make our point, that we get to scream into another person’s face, albeit over the ‘safer’ platform of social media, where offences are heaped on offences, fuel is lit, and both sides are at it—from the safety of a keyboard! Where is this getting us? Sure, if we make a controversial statement that regales with truth, we are bound to get a lot of traction on social media from those who agree with us, and perhaps also from those who are gutsy enough to disagree with us, who may then be shouted down by our likeminded acquaintances.

There is always a bigger issue at stake in any of these political, theological, economic firestorms we find ourselves in. Can’t leaders in the world see this? Wouldn’t it be better to get alongside our enemies and find strategic solutions that give everyone hope for peace?

Instead we have leaders who at times behave as privileged animals on both/all sides of the political and faith divides. People charged with the responsibility to lead don’t have courage enough to face fire from their own people in getting results all could live with. This is the job of leadership. But these leaders are lobbyists. They only care about a win-at-all-costs solution; the solution they represent. And so, a real solution will never be negotiated.

~

Division is the devil’s delight
but those who seek peace draw on God’s might.

Make an enemy into a friend
and you bring Satan’s goal to an end!

It’s time for the real Christians—
those who are called ‘children of God’—
to rise up and make peace all over this planet.

But this will never occur where outrage
has its way in our individualistic hearts.

The question each of us must ask,
as we surrender our biases, acknowledge our sin,
and do battle with the task:
Jesus, how do I love my enemy?

~

We need a different way, just as we all need to recommit to following Jesus, and not just our own warped sense of interpreting God’s will, which we dangerously assume we’re totally right about. Remember that we all have biases, and none of us, no matter who we are, has the full degree of God’s wisdom (see Isaiah 55:8-9).

But there’s one thing that sets all practicing Christians apart, and that is the fruit of faith through the practice of continual repentance—a daily turning back to trust in God.

What a difference there could be in the world if Christians, and especially Christian leaders, sought to honour God, serve others, and grow in the likeness of Christ, especially amid conflict.

As the Kingdom of God’s glory comes to pass,
the wiles of Satan wither and die at long last.

~

There’s more at stake here than what we think.

More than even the issue of freedom of speech/religion.

More important than allegiances to lobby groups is our allegiance to Christ and what Jesus commanded us to do.

What’s at stake here is totality of the Christian mission.

Divergent factions of the Christian faith are ripping the mission apart in a single generation. Now more than ever we need unity.

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash