Today's Scripture Reading (September 9, 2025): Psalm 131, 133, & 134
Several years ago, I signed
off on a communication to a denominational official, stating that the argument
within the writing was "beyond my pay grade." I was presenting an
argument against the eviction of specific churches within the Church
Association, recognizing that the broader argument was beyond my responsibility
to the denomination. My point was that I was willing to admit that I didn't
hold the solution to the problem at hand. However, I didn't believe that those
who were bringing the accusations had the answer either, nor that the best
course of action was to remove the offending churches. It was "beyond all
of our pay grades." The denominational official wrote back, echoing my
last thought; he said the problem was beyond his pay grade as well.
I believe that the prime
purpose of the church was given to us by Jesus at the Last Supper. No, it wasn't
the celebration of communion or mass, but it was shown later in the discussion
that Jesus had with the Apostles. "A
new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another." It doesn't matter what you do; Jesus says that we are to love
one another. For me, that means we don't try to evict others from our
fellowships; that eviction doesn't seem like an action of love. I believe in a
Big Tent; there is room for a lot of the differences between those of us who
believe that Jesus is Lord.
But
let me go a step further. There are other things that we need to do. We need to
understand what God means when he speaks of righteousness. We need to know how
God expects us to live. Issues like homosexuality and abortion are not going
away in the near future. We have to deal with the inequities of life in this
world in which we love. All of which means that we have a lot of work to do.
However,
first we have to learn to love. When we have perfected what it means to love
our neighbor as ourselves, when we have begun to love with a Good Samaritan
kind of love, when we have started to really show what it is like to love our
enemies; when all of these love problems have been dealt with, then and only
then, can we graduate to all of the other issues that spiritually mar our
society. However, I have to admit that I think we will find, once we have
mastered love, that these other things won't seem as important as we once
thought.
David
admits that his heart is not proud and his eyes are not haughty. It is a
statement that I cannot make, although I wish I could. I believe that what
David states is what God wants me to be, but I still have work to do. David confirms
that he desires to leave those things that are beyond his pay grade up to God.
Like
David, we need to leave the significant matters alone until we learn to truly
love ourselves, those who share our beliefs, and those who disagree with us.
Don't worry. When we get finished, David's "great matters" and "things
too wonderful" will still be there. But we will be in a better place,
having learned to love so we can deal with the "great matters" of life.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Psalm 138 & 139
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