For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. Romans 12:5 (JANT)
We Are Connected – Connected Series – Part 1
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3
There’s so much “separation” filling up our world. There is much dividing us: who we vote for; the causes we believe in, or the ones we are opposed to; whether we celebrate certain holidays or not; where we worship and who we worship; where we live and where we come from; who we love and who we will stand up for; the books we read and the authors we think dangerous… and so much more.
So many differences with so much heat between us all because of them. Does it have to be this way?
How do we remain passionate about our beliefs AND open to others at the same time? How do we “love our enemies?” How do we pray for those that have used and hurt us? How do we stand up for justice, speak truth to power, and raise our voices and move our feet in protest against policies and actions that make our spirits sick all the while holding on to the truth that it is God’s goodness and kindness that brings forth repentance and transformation within hearts and lives?
Seriously, I’m asking the question; I don’t have the answer. Haha!
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen articles go viral with all kinds of aggressive responses listed beneath them. Hatred and negativity spread like wildfire behind the anonymity and safety of a social media handle and a screen. And while I know many of us feel very passionate about the scriptures and what they mean and how they impact our lives and the world around us, I think there is an underlying factor/command/way to consider. Something that the cross shows us, but we’ve lost sight of for all our opinions and certainties.
In his book, “The Hungering Dark“, Frederick Buechner said:
“Humanity is like an enormous spider web, so that if you touch it anywhere, you set the whole thing trembling… As we move around this world and as we act with kindness, perhaps, or with indifference, or with hostility, toward the people we meet, we too are setting the great spider web a-tremble. The life that I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place and time my touch will be felt. Our lives are linked together. No man is an island.”
While we are individuals with unique thoughts and preferences and opinions and values, it’s our interactions with those around us that either set the world trembling with grace or with harm and fear.
Paul wrote to his friends in Rome and said:
“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” (Rom 12:3-5 JANT)
Other translations end verse five with, “We belong to each other.”
This is not “Christian exclusive” talk. This is across the board, friend and enemy, neighbor and politician, family and others… it's all of us. We are all made of stardust and earth, we all carry the Divine breath of God in our bodies; circulating through our blood and igniting life beneath our skins. This sacred thread connects us all, believer, and non-believer, alike.
When we begin to see this, I think we get a glimpse of what grace truly is.
Go to Part 2 – The Same »
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