Today’s Scripture Reading (March 25, 2018): 2 Timothy 2
They gather around the things that they are
opposed to full of anger. They lift their protest signs and shout their
slogans. It often seems that, in the midst of their confrontation, they have
finally found the place where they are truly happy. And there is nothing that they
want more than for the confrontation to somehow continue. Or when the battle
ends, they search for something else against which they can take a stand.
I understand that if it were possible to
interview them in the midst of their most angst-filled
moments, it would not be happy thoughts that we would receive in response. They
would stress that they are trying to change the way that the world works.
Sometimes these people believe that they are the instruments of God’s terrible
judgment on the earth. But the reality is that they are neither.
I don’t care what the “hot button topic”
might be, direct negative or violent confrontation rarely brings the desired
result. Oh, we may be able to coerce a change in behavior with our weapons,
threats, or even the overwhelming force of our personality; it is possible,
given enough force, to coerce a behavior into the shadows or underground, but
nothing has truly changed. And once the weapons or the threat has been removed, once the coercion disappears, everything
will return to the way it used to be. If anything, these kinds of confrontations
drive us further apart. If the issue is abortion, then the shouting and
screaming and chaining of ourselves to equipment is more likely to entrench the
various positions then bring unity. The
Christian Church’s stand against same-sex sexual intimacy, often with violent
and unnecessary rhetoric, has not brought the two sides closer together, it has
driven us further apart. There is no solution. We simply make sure that our
side of the issue is firmly entrenched. We go to battle with our favorite Bible
verses proceeding like a sword from our mouths and wait for God’s wrath to
devour our enemies.
Welcome to our world. Except that Paul seems
to argue that it shouldn’t be this way, that this world of violent coercion is
not the Christian Church; it is not the way that we do things. We don’t shout
from the pulpits and call down hellfire on those who will not listen to our
message. We step up with love, we are not quarrelsome, but instead, we kindly and quietly open the
discussion, as much willing to listen as we are to speak. In this, we teach, not necessarily what it is that
we think that they, our opponent, should do, but rather the reasons for our own personal belief. And maybe they, or us,
gently change our opinions, even just a little. But no matter the result, Paul’s
instructions leave us not as entrench enemies after the discussion, but maybe a
little better friends with an increased understanding of the beliefs on both
sides of the argument.
Personally, I have been ashamed of the way
that the church has handled the abortion issue over the past few decades. Often,
in the midst of the conflict, I wonder where Jesus would be? Would he carry the
signs with images of aborted fetuses adorned with the word murder? Would he
defend the practice, arguing that woman should be able to do what she wants
with her own body? I can’t see Jesus doing either of these things. I can see
him in the waiting room holding the scared little girls, because most of them
are, and whispering in their ears, “No matter what happens in the next few
moments, I am with you, and I love you. You
are important to me.” And then I wonder if he looks over his shoulder and wonders
why the Christians are still shouting their slogans outside of the clinic
walls. Why is it that those who profess to be his followers refuse to love
those who need to feel that love the most? I wish I knew the answer, but the
reality is that we only seem willing to dig our trenches just a little deeper.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 3
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