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

The Exchange Gift

The rubber band snapped and flew across the room.  She searched everywhere she possibly could, turned over every space and still couldn’t find where it went.  There was no purpose in finding it other than to ease her mind of wondering where it could possibly have gone.  She shared this story with me and then looked to a friend across the room,

“I’m not sure that you remember, but, back when we used to exchange gifts John gave Tom a flashlight.  That’s the same flashlight I got out to use and wouldn’t you know, it still works, it still shines…”

Her eyes instantly filled with tears. 

She reached her smooth, worn-by-time hand over and grabbed mine, leaned in and said “I’m always the crier of the group!”

That moment wouldn’t leave my mind.  And days later, it still hasn’t. 

I have never met her husband Tom.  He went to be with the Lord in the fall of 2006, just a few years before our families’ lives crossed paths.  But what she said about the Christmas gift all those years ago couldn’t be truer.  The light still shines. 

The life of a man I’ve never known greatly affected mine. 

He was the father of our pastor who has been at our side through hard times because, like he says “we’re family.” He was the father-in-law of a friend who has knelt to boldly pray for our lives.  He was the husband to the woman whose gentle spirit and sweet smile has been honey to our souls.  This man I have never known sewed into the Kingdom of God and my family has been blessed to have received nourishment from that harvest. 

The light of this man still shines because the light he carried was the very Light of Christ.

 “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”  2 Corinthians 4:12

“The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”  John 1:9

How appropriate to think of this example as we celebrate the Christmas season.  In His graciousness, God sent the gift of His Son so that we would no longer dwell in darkness.  This baby king came to conquer every burden, every sting of sin, and every grave to make a way for us to have a life that will not be cut short or ended.  When we bear the light of Christ in our hearts, our lives shine on long after we pass from the earth because His purpose on that first Christmas was to set eternity in the heart of man.  His plan was one that was and is eternal, and when we live according to it, we are part of a greater, grander story that defies the limits of time. 

This Christmas, may we be reminded of the Light that flooded the darkness of our sin-filled world and rescued our sin-filled selves.  May we choose to receive the gift of Jesus in our own hearts and live in a way that shines the Light of Christ long after we are passed from this temporary place.  As we exchange gifts, may we keep in mind to also exchange ones of lasting importance that reflect our Savior and shine His light into the lives of those we love: gifts of grace, of kindness, of undeserved favor and gentleness and of forgiveness.

Because that Christmas night long ago, we were freely given the greatest gift of all:

A Savior who received from us every sin in exchange to give us His Perfect Life that we may live.

Merry Christmas.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of Life.”  John 8:12