Understanding that we will be entering into a very contentious and stressful time as a nation very soon, we
want to prepare ourselves as a community for how we can navigate this time as Christians who are committed and proclaim allegiance to Jesus and His Kingdom as a first priority before any political party of system of thought.
“The measure of a man or woman is not where he or she stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he or she stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.” Martin Luther King Jr, Strength to Love, 1963
What this moment may reveal about you and me, and the Christian church is that we really don’t disagree well
How do I even begin to navigate these choppy waters of politics and relate well to others in the face of sharp disagreement as a person of faith in Jesus? This is a question many of us are asking ourselves or at least we should be.
Holding Space for Difference
V1-2 i. Is there any fruit in your life from being a citizen of the Kingdom of God? Because if you do, make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another and working together with one mind and one purpose.
In other words, in response to what God has done to you and for you, show up in this way. With one mind and one purpose.
So much of how we’re supposed to respond to God for what he’s done and for who he is, centers itself on how well we relate to other people.
Paul is saying, that if we can agree on the main things, wholeheartedly on the main things, if we can gather with one mind and one purpose concerning the main things, then the other things can be worked out. But here’s the challenge. We keep adding to the list of main things.
There are two things this text shows us as to how we can begin to get better at making Space for Differences.
Be
The essence of humility, especially over these hot button issues, is to take up less space than you naturally want to take up. That we learn to leave space. Leave space for what you ask? Leave space for what you don’t know yet!
Pride and cynicism make you think you’re an expert on things you couldn’t possibly be an expert on. And this is especially true when it comes to civic engagement and politics.
Humility, which is the fruit of Christian Love, is one of the signs that the spirit of God is at work in your life. It budgets for the fact that there is likely more to the story than what I’ve heard yet.
Get
Proximate is simply a fancy word that means you have to lean in, to get close to the “other”.
Why? Because God demands that we get close in order to work this out, in order to work this out at a time where nobody would blame you if you pulled away with all the craziness,the political vitriol, and the debates and the campaigns and the ads and all the stuff that. Nobody would blame us if we chose to huddle with folks who look like us and who vote like us and folks who are from the same side of the track. Nobody would blame us. Everybody would understand except the father. He says no. He says, press in. Citizens of the kingdom, God calls us to press in toward him, and one of the outworkings of that is that we press toward one another.
This is
A prophetic vision of what the Kingdom will look like when its fully formed is found in Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah’s vision shows us that when the kingdom is fully realized, these creatures that are naturally and instinctively at odds with one another press in together. But a lot must change on the inside of these animals in order for them to press into relationship, harmonious relationship with one another in order for them to get close.
If this is what the kingdom fully looks like for the animal kingdom, it begs the question, what does it look like for the human folks, folks like you and me from different sides of the tracks or different upbringings from different race and cultural groups, from different socioeconomic backgrounds, from different perspectives when it comes to policies and political engagements? What are the implications of the kingdom fully realized for us?
Conclusion
Ponder these questions: Where is God calling you to be more humble? What realm of your life is God calling you to take up less space, and in what areas of your life is God calling you to lay down some of your expert status, particularly in realms where you don’t qualify as an expert? Where is God calling you to take up less space and to be humble? The second question is, where is God calling you to practice that humility? To put it a different way, who is God challenging you to get more proximate with, and in what areas of your life is God calling you to press into places of difference and press into places of discomfort so that you can practice that humility and get some more reps at holding space for difference?