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Friday, June 16, 2017

“WE” vs “THEY”



 

Many months ago, our church was in turmoil over choices/decisions being made which were unpopular (not unbiblical) leading to some dissention, adversarial confrontations and lack of trust.  I found myself thinking and commenting (a more civilized term for “angrily spewing”) about others who did not agree with me and were being “so negative.”
 
One day, right in the middle of another one of my tirades about “them,” shaking my finger at an invisible, mostly unknown group of “They,” God quietly asked, “Who are ‘They’?”  And answered the question Himself in a way that made me stop mid-sentence: “Don’t you and “they” attend the same services?  Belong to the same body of believers – My body? Want the best for my Church?”  The light dawned in my brain – in the body of Christ, there is no “we” and “they” – it is all “we.”

Live together in harmony, live together in love, as though you had only one mind and one spirit between you. [vs 2, Phillips]
 
Lord, forgive me of my polarizing thoughts, my judgmental statements, my elevated view of my opinion.  Help me, when there are disagreements among us, to refuse to allow my thoughts and communication to disintegrate into “we vs they” camps. Give strength and courage to be able to say, “We together have a problem, let’s work it out together with God’s help.”

None of you should think only of his own affairs, but should learn to see things from other people’s point of view. [vs 4, Phillips]
 
There’s an older contemporary song that says:

            We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Can we be one? Can our unity be restored? Can we come together to solve our differences?  Can we do it?  Only as we allow our Mighty God to guide us and have His way in our midst.

 
Dear, Lord Jesus, help us listen to You and to one another as we seek to live well together as Your Church. “Above all things [help us] be loving, humble, united”*

 

*from the introduction note for Philippians 2: 1-11 in Phillips translation

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