Christian Polarity
Christians have fought Christians throughout history. Rome v Constantinople…Catholic v Protestant…Presbyterians v The Church of England…German Lutheran provinces v German Catholic provinces – the list is interminable. More often than not these were political fights wrapped in church clothing. People don’t usually go to war over theology unless one theology comes with a bunch of territory that the other theology wants. The American experiment has been a bold effort to bring such things to an end by separating church and government, not only bringing peace where little was known, but preserving religious expression that would otherwise have been crushed as it lost some battle. It is supposed to be a win-win. But alas….
In New Hampshire an Episcopal Bishop “warns” of a coming martyrdom for liberal Christians. In Pennsylvania local government attempts to severely restrict religious practice. And in Minnesota Don Lemon accuses conservative Christians of being white supremists. And those are just the current stories; let’s not forget California forbidding church gathering during covid. What is notable in all of these stories is that both sides of the dispute claim to be acting in a “Christian fashion” – both sides claiming to do what Jesus would do. In such situations, typically, both sides have something wrong.
So, as a single example – one side thinks deportations lack compassion for the alien a priori. The other side thinks deportations are compassionate, focusing on the legal residents that are displaced, jobless, or otherwise victimized by the alien. Since both claim compassion, both claim to be acting in a Christ-like fashion. That alone should tell us there is more to being Christ-like than exercising compassion and that compassion does not always look like we think it will look.
We assume Jesus always acted out of love and compassion – after all Jesus was God and God is love. So, was Jesus being loving when He cursed the Pharisees and tore up the Temple courtyard? The answer must be “yes” so compassion and love must be far more complex than just standing up for those we view as underprivileged in some fashion. That’s not easy to get your head around and understand. I cannot fully understand why violence (the Temple courtyard) is compassionate in one instance, but is not in another (Jesus heals the ear of one of His captors.) The problem is not what I know and understand, but what I do not know and understand.
What both sides have wrong in these conflicts is their lack of humility – their unwillingness to admit they do not have the whole story. Far too often we do not know what Jesus would do yet we act as if we are justified by His actions. The source of the conflict is not what Jesus would do, but our lack of humility to admit that we don’t know. Jesus, the one man that need not be humble due to His actual perfection, acted humbly. How can we do less?
Humility admits what is does not know. Humility also admits when the fight is really about something else. At a minimum, can we drop the holy cloth act in all of this conflict? Nobody is that righteous.
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