Enough is enough friends…
First and foremost, what I am about to write is for those that are a learners/followers of Jesus. (If you are not a learner/follower of Jesus, feel free to read along because it is for your sake that I think what I am to write is so important – but the thrust is this is for those that follow Jesus)
I saw recently a person quote an old football proverb that says:
As a coach, you are either coaching it or you are allowing it.
I realized this week, that there are things that I have simply not addressed to those that are on my “team”, and thus I am passively allowing it to happen. Now, enough is enough.
There are attitudes that have snuck in to our Christian-subculture that are just bizarre and damaging. Here is how I have seen in manifested over and over online and in person:
People, in defending their political party allegiance have demeaned, demonized and demoralized brothers and sisters in the faith.
They tear, rip, and degrade those that are of the faith. Let’s get this straight, the church of New Testament had disagreements and did not always see eye to eye on the issues, some we even told had allegiances to different early leaders in the faith. Listen to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9:
3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Paul makes it clear: it is not about your allegiance to a person or party – and this is even true within the leadership of the church. Instead, our loyalty and allegiance is to God who makes things grow.
I think the danger in the division I have seen being sown amongst the church is this: People place their trust in a human, or a political party, or even a policy or set of policies. The hope then becomes: if only that person, party or policy has it way, then all will be well.
As learners of Jesus, our trust must rest in Jesus, the author and completer of our faith.
Enough is the enough.
I don’t live under a rock, I know what is happening in our nation’s capitol now. That stuff and craziness will keep going on in the days, weeks, years ahead.
To impeach means to call into question or validity of a practice. So I would like to impeach our actions as learners of Jesus.
You see, if we divide and destroy those that are on our team, soon we will not have a team, we will just have a bunch of groups and sects that have walls built around them. In the way we will no longer be in the world and not of it, but instead we we simply model what is being done in world around us. This is not who we are called to be.
So we must examine ourselves and look deep within. The change does not begin out there, but it begins “in here.”
So if we are spending so much of our time sowing division amongst our own team, then we naturally are spending less time showing the love of Jesus to those that don’t yet know who He is.
And worse case scenario: If those that don’t know Jesus, see the division and downgrading at every turn, what will their opinion be of Jesus and his team be? Why would they want have anything to do with a people that demean, demonize and demoralize?
I don’t want to be a part a people like that. I want to be a part of people that are known by their love. I want to be known as a people that are for faith, hope and love in the all the places those things are needed.
Enough is enough, friends.
Now is the time to turn around (repent) and know, I mean really press in to know the heart of God (see Hosea 6:3).
May God keep us and bless us in this venture.
Strength and courage,
kp
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