We're Fighting the Wrong Battle

You’re wrong, you know?  But they are too.  In fact we all have it wrong and we’re fighting the wrong battle.  There’s a clear division among our people, a spirit of hostility and arrogance.  One that insists on being right and has no tolerance for anything but his or her own personal view. We are a country divided by a line in the sand that has quickly escalated to a ditch that has proved itself ridden with the dead, dry bones of what once was our sense of dignity and respect for human life.   

This isn’t about “Pro-life” or “Pro-choice” human life either.  This is about each other. 

We’ve all seen endless feeds of marching, protests, riots and political, spiritual, personal views.  We’ve been bombarded with every emotion and forced to face the condition of a war being waged on each and every one of our hearts. It seems we’re all walking around raw, with walls built, ready to defend our stance as we expect to be criticized or judged without a moment’s notice. 

Whether or not you believe in your Creator, He was gracious enough to afford us the gift of choice.  Since the garden we’ve been making our own choices.  At times those choices have given us life and other times they have cost us our lives.  Those choices have had resulted in promises fulfilled and other times caused us to reap the consequences of our fallen-ness.   At no time in history or now has our Creator forced us into a decision or a certain way of life.  He offers us His best, and He honors those who are obedient and faithful, but He has never taken away their freedom to choose their path. 

Over the past few days I, just like all of us, have seen the endless flood of destruction we are causing ourselves as we drown in a sea of division.  Friends and family on both sides of the line: politically, morally, socially, in every way.  And neither side is entirely right.  But neither side is entirely wrong either. 

The beauty of our diversity is that when we peacefully disagree, we allow ourselves to grow.  We allow ourselves to learn from one another, from others who have walked a path that is unknown to us and afford each other the ultimate gift of grace.  I believe we each have a right to our own opinion, our own beliefs, our own religions and our own differences.  We should all believe in this for it is what makes us individuals and united within our differences. 

Unfortunately we’re fighting the wrong battle as we fight against one another:

Tearing down each other to get ahead.

Slandering each other to better our own name.

Screaming at each other to prove our own way is the only way.

Tearing off our dignity to flaunt ourselves into power.

Leaving our own trailed mess as we insist on others seeing our so-called beauty. 

We’ve seen in history many times when people have protested, in a peaceful manner, and had their voices heard which resulted in beneficial changes to our country.  We celebrate a woman who sat down in a single protest for her own right and now that moment marked in time as a shift in our views. Yet she got on that bus and quietly, courageously, boldly took her position.  She didn’t strip down, she didn’t tear apart every other seat and she certainly didn’t set the whole thing ablaze.  We have an entire day in honor of a man who had a dream. He stood and stated his words, his beliefs and his vision with humble pride in a people he truly believed could be inspired to be better and do better.  We can all do better. 

We need to find it within ourselves to breathe life into the ditch of dry bones that we’ve seemingly forgotten.  We need to find the courage to not fight for our views to be the same, they never will be, but instead to restore the decency in human nature.  No matter where we live, what religion we are, what background we come from.  No matter what our race, our social standing, our age… 

We are all CAPABLE of being decent to one another. 

We are all CAPABLE of being respectful of one another’s differences.

We are all CAPABLE of extending grace to those who we may not agree with.

We are all CAPABLE of finding it within our hearts to forgive those we feel wronged us. 

We are all CAPABLE of standing up in protest without defaming anyone else in the process.

We are all CAPABLE of raising our signs and then carrying those signs with us as we go. 

We are all CAPABLE of letting our voices be heard without screaming so loud our voices are drowned. 

We are all CAPABLE of allowing our lives to be our testimony of what we believe in and not forcing our views on every passing person.

We are all CAPABLE of restoring dignity, respect, honor and morality among our people.

….but are we WILLING? 

Are we WILLING to set aside our differences to see human souls, hurting, broken, crying out for help and a place to belong?

Are we WILLING to take a lesser role so that someone more qualified, more able, can fulfill a position needed?

Are we WILLING to humble ourselves and allow the rubbing of elbows, the differences we so beautifully carry to be a beacon of light for positive change in our world?

Are we WILLING to recognize the sacrifices made and honor those deserving of our utmost respect, giving credit where it is due?

It’s time that we consider our ability to restore unity in our people.  We must be willing to take shovelful’s of grace, compassion, consideration, empathy, gentleness, kindness, goodness and genuine love and fill in the ditch that we’ve created.  It’s our choice whether we erase the line in the sand or if we continue downward and allow the ditch to fill with the remains of our broken dreams, promises and lives. 

We’ve all been wrong.  But it’s not too late. 

Our dreams can be revisited, our promises can be reinstated and our lives can be redeemed.

We are capable.  But are we willing?

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”  Ephesians 4:2-3

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1