Not My Enemy

The early disciples seemed to have a tribe mentality of inclusion and exclusion: “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” (Mk 9:38).  Apparently only those who were a known part of their group were accepted as part of God's children and followers of Christ.  All others had to be accepted and ordained by them before they could be considered disciples.

 Jesus, however, had a different standard of inclusion: “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us" (vv. 39-40).  Jesus' standard of inclusion was not branding but behavior.  He was concerned with what they did not with whom they were associated.

As I watched the President address the joint-assembly of Congress last night, I noticed that many Democrats sat on their hands even when statements were made that they are know to approve of otherwise.  But in this setting, there was clear tribalism that marked the enemy by personal association not by promise of action.

I was not surprised, it is the state of politics today.  I doubt, in this hyper-partisan state that we live in that it would have been any different if the shoe were on the other foot.  Nonetheless, it is sad and it is wrong.  A house cannot stand when divided against itself and forward progress will be thwarted if not aborted if we continually pull in different directions.

The same is true in Christendom, where we find denominations choosing not to accept or work with others who follow the same Lord but are not part of their grouping.  Even individual churches within a denomination have been known to disavow others within that group because they don't look quite the same or share the same rhetoric.

While we debate a wall at our southern border to control who is able to enter and when, we freely erect walls between ourselves, between cultures, between churches, etc.  How is it that we are going to include others from different countries when we are drawing lines of exclusion in this one?  With a country divided in half, how can we be whole?

I keep hearing about the African American community, the Hispanic American community, the female community, the LGBTQ community, the "Place Your Group Name Here" community.  What I am not hearing much about is the American community.  It is pretty much the same in Christendom where we call upon the same Lord but not in one voice.  In Saline county, where I currently live, there are some 160 churches, largely going about doing there own thing.  Is it any wonder the Church, with some notable exceptions, is on a downward slide to obscurity?

You will probably not be shocked to hear that I am fairly conservative.  But, I have many associates and friends that are liberal.  I like and respect them because of how they do their job, treat others, show respect, keep their word, jump in to help others out - do you see what I'm getting at?  We need to respond to what people do not judge them based on labels.  Even when we find ourselves in disagreement, it doesn't mean we have to be disagreeable or draw lines of exclusion.

How about we try to get along, try to understand one another, try to find common ground, try to serve side-by-side, try to open more doors and build more bridges so that we can tear down some of the walls between us.

We won't always be able to agree.  We won't always be able to work together.  We will have to sometimes take a stand against one another.  But we can come together as Americans wherever and whenever and however we can.  And in the Church, where we serve the same Lord, we ought always to find some common ground, some way of appreciating one another, even as we work out some of our differences.  Jus' Say'n.