A Tale of Three Observations
“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” - Romans 15:1-7 ESV
There have been several thoughts filling my mind and, since you’re reading this, I am going to share them with you.
The first is a news article I read this morning. For me, it is about two weeks after the election and I’ve been paying attention to see how the final House races are called. The article I read was about people upset with the result of the election. I’m not talking the fringe people who have declared themselves 4B (females who are protesting by abstaining from sexual relations). I couldn’t care less about their tale. But, there is a group that is so distraught that they are wearing a blue bracelet so that others can tell who they are in a casual greeting (and I assume the opposite is true also. If the person isn’t adorned thusly, they are to be considered as voting for the enemy). I consider this wrong mainly due to the command from Romans above. Also, likely in my opinion, this is close to idol worship.
The second thought was about a car I saw driving yesterday. It had a bumper sticker on the back supporting Bernie Sanders for President. As I recall, he made his play for the 2016 election and was squeezed out by Hillary Clinton. He made a brief run in 2020 before he cut a deal with Joe Biden to support his run. Regardless, he is a Senator from an east coast state and not likely to be a running candidate in the future for President. All, I could think of is what the person must think of themselves every time they walk past the back of their vehicle and sees the reminder that they, at best, picked the losing horse. Again, how does prominently displaying their allegiance build up his neighbor?
My final observation was from a recent Elder message. The message included a comment about looking at your neighbor to see if you can tell if they are displaying the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives. When I heard that, alarm bells went off in my head. You see, just like the above, whenever you separate people into this group or that group you inevitably try to build up your team and put down the opposing team. This also doesn’t seem to fit in with the charge in Romans.
I wrote the above at 8am this morning and now I’ve had almost four additional hours to think…when does affiliating with a group communicate a non-uplifting message to your neighbor and when is it being proud of your affiliation? Is wearing a blue bracelet communicating which philosophy you believe is the most important for us as a country or are you trying to communicate that only those wearing blue bracelets are worth interacting with? Did the person truly believe Bernie Sanders was the leader that was part of God’s sovereign plan? Did the elder mean to suggest that we should judge one another to determine if we were really saved or was he just commenting that our fruit gave an indication of our status but didn’t change how we should relate to one another? So many questions. Like so many things in my walk, I’m starting to think that it’s what is in your heart that is important.
Dear God, please forgive me those times when I do things to separate myself from your children and help others understand when I’m worshipping you by communicating my beliefs.
