This morning, I had to stay home with my sickly little Alice. I tuned in to the service online and was struck by Pastor Paul’s message to the children. It resonated with me because it is a very important message for all of us, young and old.
It seems that one of the characteristics of our culture, as it has evolved (or, more correctly, devolved), is that we are finding new and creative ways to divide people. This is especially true in our political culture which is chock-full of finger-pointing, stereotypes and tribalism.
“We can do all sort of things to divide us … to make sure we are different than anyone else,” Pastor Paul said. “God came to us in Jesus not to divide us, but to bring us together.”
I’m confident that it breaks the heart of God to see his people divided in their quest for political righteousness — to see so many Christians building up walls instead of tearing them down.
Prior to Pastor Paul’s message to our children this morning, I read a wonderful piece by one of my favorite Christian authors, David French. In it, he wrote about how we, as Christians, are duty-bound to keep the commandments of God as the standard for all engagements with our brothers and sisters — political or otherwise.
Last fall, we talked a lot in Pipe about how the teachings of Christ were radical in the context of the time and, indeed, continue to be today in a number of ways. French, wrote about our calling in a way that that I think is super important for all of us to understand:
Christian young people are often taught that they should be countercultural. The youth group version of that admonition goes something like this: When the world is profane, your speech is clean. When the world is drunk, you are sober. When the world is promiscuous, you are chaste. How do you know we’re Christian? We don’t cuss, drink, or have premarital sex.
But the call to counterculture is much more comprehensive. When the world is greedy, you are generous. When the world is cruel, you are kind. When the world is fearful, you are faithful. When the world is proud, you are humble. How do you know we’re Christian, by our love.
It goes without saying, then, that when others are building walls to divide us, we stand with Christ to tear them down — to unite us. When others are turning their backs on friends and family over political differences, we affirm that our love for all people is patterned after God’s unconditional love for us.
We are not, as Christians, called to be foot soldiers in a culture war. We are called to enlist our hearts and minds in a much more noble cause: “…to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
See you on Wednesday night!
The Pipe 