Dear Church, Tread Lightly
The past month of my social media existence has been one of the toughest for me to just sit and watch. I have witnessed so much hateful dialogue between people due to their different stances on issues. (Some personal, some political, and some religious.) It's not that I expect conflict to cease to exist. In fact, I LOVE conflict. Yes, you read that right. I LOVE conflict because it brings about the opportunity for restoration to begin to take place. Engaging our conflicts in a healthy way can be the most loving thing we can do that brings about real and authentic restoration. But, the key word in that is healthy.
What I have been most disappointed in is the dialogue that has been happening amongst Christians. Many denominations, including my own, are wrestling through tough situations. (Women as pastors, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and sexual scandals just to name a few in the twitterverse this past month. Of course I have my own opinions on all of these topics, but what breaks my heart the most is the hateful rhetoric taking place amongst believers around these topics and more. In this blog, I will not take a stance on any situation....for that seems pointless. What God has called me to address is the process in which we engage with one another, because right now...it's not healthy...it's harmful.
So, I say to myself first: Dear Austin, tread lightly. Remind yourself that your call is to Love God, love others, and walk humbly with your God. You do not have all the answers, and you aren't meant to. You are called to peace, a peace that passes your knowledge. You are called to patience, and after you are done waiting...wait some more. You are called to love mercy, not judgement. You are called to unity and life, not division and death. You are called to pursue restoration and create beauty in this world just like your God did, does, and will continue to do.
And, I say secondly: Dear Church, tread lightly. I believe that we are at, or near, a very pivotal part of the history of Christianity. How we handle these tough situations and differences between us will say so much more about us than the policies we inevitably land on. A powerful chorus of a worship song that echos a phrase of Jesus himself says: "They will know we are Christians by our love." (John 13:35) Unfortunately, the dialogue amongst Christians recently has shown me much more hate than love. This, is where we are losing "them". The unchurched, the progressive thinkers, the marginalized, the hurting, the doubters, and so many more. The call is to love first; everybody, all the time. If our knee jerk reaction is not love, it's time to take a step back and humbly repent and let God do a might work in you. (Preaching to myself here) The most attractional thing that the Church should be offering is a true love that heals and restores. This comes only from God, but we have our part to play.
Proverbs 12:18, one of my increasingly favorite verses, says "Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." It is a biblical principal that our words matter. They carry the incredible power to harm or to heal another human being. We are called to be good and loving stewards of our words, especially in the 21st Century. For the first time in history, the resources of technology have created the ability for anyone to access an abundance of information instantly and have multiple public platforms that reach globally to then share that information with or without their comments attached to it. This has radically multiplied the importance of stewarding our words wisely. For in an instance, our words could cause harm or healing to not just one, but to many.
Conflict is inevitable, complex, and painful. How we choose to handle it is what matters. It is not a battle to be won, but a place for healing to begin. Will we be agents of love, or will we put salt in one another's wounds? Will we choose to listen first, and then speak words of healing? Will we be known for our love, or our hate-filled dialogue? The history books have yet to be written, we still have time to change the narrative of what society believes when it sees or hears the word "Christian".
In conclusion, I want to share with you all why I end almost every blog with the phrase "grace and peace". This practice started back when I first got my first job in ministry and had to decide what sort of way I wanted to end my email. I didn't want something super common, but also something still familiar. I then thought to the Pauline epistles and the way he started and ended almost every letter. This is what led me to use the phrase "grace and peace". The way I saw it, people could always use a little more grace and peace. Lord knows, I would appreciate some grace and peace...so wouldn't others want that message as well?
The real reason this phrase stuck didn't happen till years later. I was giving a sermon series to our youth group at the time on the importance of words. It was in the week leading up to the start of this series that God spoke to me about the context around the phrase "grace and peace". Every time Paul uses this phrase, he has something tough to address in the church he is writing to. You see, Paul recognized through the humbling of God that every tough conversation should start and end with both grace and peace. Grace is to be given to both parties as they try to understand one another, and peace is what is achieved when we tap in to God's restorative powers in the midst of our conflict.
So I say to you, and I will continue to say to you.
Grace and Peace,
Austin