Love One Another

If you say you love God, but hate your brother, you are a liar!! -John the apostle.

We are divided.

The divide has become so bitter that we have unwittingly attributed virtue to hatred.

We are so convinced of the rightness and righteousness of our opinion, that disdain appears to us as the appropriate response not only for the challenge but, also for the challenger.

The divide seems binary but, it is not.

We are segmented in multiples. Fragmentation continues to grow. Our tribe has such contempt for “the other,” we are cheered for expressions of hatred, applauded when we embarrass or shame challengers to “our” way of thinking. We have succumbed to the world’s encouragement to win at all costs. This vitriol always creates an atmosphere of fear that leads to more splintering.

We have abandoned a battle of ideas and engaged in a war of ideology.

We have traded articulation of reasoned position for bumper sticker slogans to stoke the ire of some and stroke the emotional ego of others. In a 140-character world there is little space for reasoned debate that could produce more than consensus, but also community. A virtual village of those who share and reinforce our convictions eventually leads to an intellectual nepotism that is arrogant and appalled at those who dare challenge now cherished opinions.

We have elevated choice from a value to a virtue.

We have come to believe we have a right (an entitlement) to our own way. We scorn compromise. We think they are weak who concede any inch of ideological ground. This thinking inevitably erodes the fabric of shared community.

We are better than this.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. I John 4:7

Jesus gave explicit instructions to love our enemies and pray for those who disagree with us. (Matthew 5:43ff) Anyone who purports to be a Christian is called to a particular standard of behavior in every social medium. Jesus is clear that the standard applies to all relationships and all occasions.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. I Corinthians 13:4ff

This is how we are to comport ourselves. If we do not, if we will not, we do not love God. And if we say we do, we are liars.

Reach out to someone who does not share your point of view and practice a different kind of discussion. Ask questions, intend to learn, listen more, talk less, focus on the person in front of you and resist the stereotype in your head. It could change the world.