Easier
Let me set the scene for you. It is early February and Patrick has been preaching on Ephesians for a little more than a month.
“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” - Ephesians 2:11-22 ESV
On the way home from church last Sunday, I had my favorite Christian radio station on and they were introducing a Jason Gray song. The DJ asked why it was easier to be afraid of someone than to love them. That question has been haunting my thoughts for several days.
All you have to do is watch the news and see people trying to make everything an us-versus-them issue. In fact, I’d venture that politics is definitionally that now. Every candidate tells you how their side is right and the other side is wrong. Unfortunately, we’ve accepted that you don’t have to be nice or have any decorum in that explanation.
You might be patting yourself on the back thinking you don’t pay attention to politics or even social media. Think a little more. Have you ever driven behind someone going faster or slower than you’d like and, in the words of George Carlin, think they are an idiot or maniac? Have you ever been walking at night and moved to the other side because you see a person of a different race on your side? This is just the tip of the iceberg.
God made us to recognize patterns. This is a huge blessing, most of the time. The challenge is to recognize when you are doing this in a non-helpful manner. Grouping people and asserting that they are all the same falls in this category.
““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” - Matthew 22:36-40 ESV
I’m constantly amazed at the blessings I get from conversing with people that I may, initially, want to avoid.
