James 3:17-18
Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Our two cats are litter mates… sisters. Each one has “adopted” one of us, and they are both quite territorial. If Mabel comes near me, Lucy becomes grumpy. Conversely, my husband spends a lot of time in his upstairs office, and when Lucy and I “visit,” Mabel lets us know we are in her domain! The funny thing is that the cats get along at mealtime… coming together alongside their food bowls and trading off letting us know they need fresh food and water. And most meals begin or end with a mutual face washing… that is, until the hissing and fighting begins! Talk about hot/cold and two-faced! We both love each of our cats dearly, but they are as fickle as they come!
Our cats have learned to tolerate each other, mainly by establishing individual territories and seldom venturing beyond the boundary lines. And sadly, that’s how a lot of us practice our faith with regard to people we deem unlovely or “hard to love.” We tolerate them… often with visible disdain… and our boundary lines are clearly defined. They better not try to sit on our pew… or speak to us in public as if we are good friends. A quiet nod of “Hello” when we see them in the store or at church is sufficient, and the rest of the time we cut them a wide berth.
Those folks who attend a church of another denomination… or are of another race, ethnicity, socio-economic level, or lifestyle choice… are nice enough, but clearly they are not as godly as we are! We can work with them, take their money in our places of business, and expect them to provide goods and services for us. But they are not in our league when it comes to God. They better not try to be in our group at school or sit with us at ballgames or the movies. We don’t really want them on the prom planning committee or helping with Little League or the church potluck. We are not going to be giving them a ride to meet our friends any time soon.
We think we are being wise and “loving” by practicing “tolerance” of others. But we need to go deeper than this. We need to extend grace, mercy, and understanding to all people… not just those we like – those who appear to think and act like we do. The person who irritates us with his/her continual negativity may have huge struggles and heartaches we can never begin to imagine. The one who comes on strong and tries too hard may have been kicked in the gut so many times that he/she feels like no one will ever like them for who they really are. The person who appears to be so confident – even arrogant – may be incredibly insecure and defeated… and desperate for someone to love them for who they really are.
Acting as agents for Jesus Christ, we can be the difference. We can operate in God’s wisdom to treat each person we meet with dignity and honor… and in doing so, we can help to build and strengthen the community of believers. We are called to do this. We are commissioned to be peacemakers for Jesus Christ… in His name. We are told to love others as we love ourselves… and genuinely - not in performances worthy of an Academy Award.
This is hard work… but nobody ever said being a Christian was easy. We’ve gotten too comfortable with picking and choosing who we love – and like – and drawing boundary lines to separate us from the rest. It’s time we remembered that the same God who is madly in love with us is also madly in love with the other guy, too! We’re not asked to lie and pretend to like someone… we’re asked to prayerfully call on God to give us the strength and wisdom to truly be kind and accepting of others… warts and all… and to work through our differences for the greater good of His kingdom.
Earlier verses of James 3 say that… “whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.” If we want to live wisely, in the full blessings of God, we must learn to humble ourselves and make a prayerful effort to get along with others… all of them… all the time! We are not cats… we don’t get to be territorial – or fickle! How wise and humble are you these days? Are you a peacemaker in Jesus’ name?
©2011 Debbie Robus
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