We should BE MORE

There is a disturbing trend in our world today.  We cannot “get along.”  We have forgotten how to coexist with others who might not agree with us.  Who do not look like us, act like us, etc …  We are spiraling down into a world in which the love of Christ is NOT SEEN even in His church.  We are headed for dangerous times, indeed.

Quickly, we might want to blame social media.  I do think social media has fueled this trend, but ultimately WE ARE RESPONSIBLE.  Social media makes it easier to post our thoughts and feelings onto the world wide web with a degree of anonymity.  We will post things, even about people we know, that we would NEVER say to their faces.  Because if we looked them in the eye and said those things, we would have to deal with the pain we inflict.  Even though social media makes it easier to “express ourselves,” we cannot escape the fact that WORDS CAN HURT.  And YOUR WORDS can make a POSITIVE IMPACT on this world just as they can make a NEGATIVE IMPACT.  The choice is YOURS.

So, YOU are to blame.  (I AM, TOO!) We have spiraled down to this point where we terminate relationships and friendships with those that might not see things the same way we see them politically, religiously, economically, and even down to loyalty to sports teams.  My friends, WE ARE RIDICULOUS.  (And I am keenly aware that I might lose a friend or two in saying these things.)

WE ALL NEED TO WAKE UP AND REALIZE THAT NONE OF US HAVE THE MARKET CORNERED WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE.  All of us have faults.  All of us have made mistakes.  We all have beliefs that have been shaped by life, by circumstance, by influences, and hopefully by God’s word.  Probably NONE OF US have it exactly as God sees it.  No, God is NOT a Republican.  He is NOT a Democrat.  He is  NOT a Northerner, and as much as it pains me to say, He is NOT a Southerner.  He is not a Gamecock, Bulldog, Tide, Paladin, Buckeye, and (gulp) not even a Tiger.

And yet HE finds a way to LOVE US ALL.  He even finds a way to love our enemies.  And He commands us to do the same.

The cure of all of this??? IT IS YOU.  Not waiting on others to act, but YOU LOVE WITH GOD’S KIND OF LOVE.  And if YOU do it, and if I do it, and if the next few people do it, before long we will treat each other with the dignity and respect HE INTENDED for us.  And you won’t unfriend that person who voted for that other person.  Or who pulls for that other team.  Or who drives a Ford or Chevy.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13 “When I was a child, I acted like a child.  But now that I am growing up, I’m not doing that anymore.”

Hey WORLD:  Stop acting like children.  GROW UP.  We were all taught better than this.