Finding
Myself in an “Us” and “Them” World
My
first call out of seminary was to serve as the pastor of two different churches
at the same time. Because they could not
afford their own pastor, they “yoked” together to share my time and the
salary. It turned out I was the only
thing they could agree on. Although they
were only separated by three miles geographically, they were a thousand miles
apart theologically. So, the conversation
in each church often centered on the differences between “us” and “them”. One was seen as more liberal and the other
more conservative and each criticized the other on the basis of that perception.
An example of that was
repeated every Sunday morning when they recited the “Apostle’s Creed”. One church didn’t like the idea of Jesus
“descending to hell” after the crucifixion because they didn’t really believe
in hell, so they left it out. The other
had no problem with this concept and left it in. Every Sunday I had to remember which church I
was in, the one that was going to hell or the one that was not.
When
people grumbled to me about the folks in the other church I had to remind them
that I was the pastor of that congregation as well and it bothered me to hear
them speak so harshly about those entrusted to my care. They were my people too. They were brothers and sisters in Christ and
one day God willing we would be together in heaven. If we can’t get along for a little while in
this world, how do we expect to get along in the next through all eternity?
They
were not the only ones to face this dilemma.
The early church was brand new and fresh-out-of-the-box when people
discovered the differences that divided them in the world had followed them
into the church. Rich folks looked down
on poor folks, Jews turned up their noses at the Greeks, and men had a hard
time seeing women as their equal. That’s
why the Apostle Paul said, “In Christ there is neither male or female, Greek or
Jew, slave or free; you are all one in Christ”.
In other words there is not supposed to be much room in the church for
“us” and “them” language in the church.
It’s not about “me” – it’s about “we”.
The labels we attach to others may help us in a shorthand kind of way
make judgments, but they will never give us insight into how others may think
or feel. People are always more complicated than they appear on the surface.
So,
when we do disagree on the hot-button issues of the day and struggle to discern
God’s Will the Bible says we are to “speak the truth in love”. This is the
definition of Christian tolerance, which means we do not have to sacrifice our
convictions to get along. We ought to hold onto what we believe to be true, but
we are to demonstrate respect, compassion, and even love to those with whom we
disagree. Christian tolerance has muscle
because it is centered upon the cross. Jesus died for all of us so we ought to
try to be a little more tolerant and accepting of those for whom Jesus gave his
life. Remember this the next time you find yourself throwing around “us” and
“them” labels like liberal or conservative, fundamentalist or charismatic If he
loves those folks we call “them” then we ought to do the same because they
might be saying the same thing about “us”.
No comments:
Post a Comment