Dear Friends,
I was intrigued by the Message translation of John 3:16-18,
one of the Bible’s best-known passages.
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one
and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing
in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. “God didn’t go to all the
trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling
the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone
who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since
been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that
person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to
him (John 3:16-18).
What really caught my attention in this passage was “God didn’t go
to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger,
telling the world how bad it was.”
God didn’t point his finger at us, and neither should we point our
finger at one another. Today we are on the verge of culture collapse as we
watch our politicians playing the finger pointing game.
No wonder nothing is getting done in Congress where contention is
the rule of the day and where collaboration and compromise are forgotten things
of the past. Government is at a political standstill, and things will remain
this way as long as our leaders continue to despise and detest those who
disagree with them. The time is right for our leaders to adopt a new strategy
and instead of finger pointing, I suggest they might try some hand extending.
What’s happening in our political world is also happening in our
relational world where many of us are guilty of also playing the finger
pointing game. Political differences are dividing us. Friends are lost and
relationships are shattered, as we argue over masks, vaccination policy, and
political points of view, and the result is that our relationships are
disintegrating right before our eyes.
As believers we must learn to disagree without allowing our
disagreement to destroy our friendships. We must learn to value and love
others in ways that transcend our differences, no matter how significant those
differences may seem. Those who disagree with us are not our enemies. We
are the real enemy if we choose to harbor hatred and espouse enmity toward one
another because they don’t think like us.
If we don’t learn to love and value people who are different from
us-politically, socially, relationally- we will destroy the relational bridges
we need to cross to win them for Christ. If we only respect the people who
share our same values and beliefs, how will we ever relate to and reach those
whose views and values are different from ours? Unless we a build bridges
of friendships with them, the walls of our differences will grow and become
more pronounced.
Jesus tells us to love our enemies, and as believers we have no
choice. Love is not an option; it is a command that must never be forgotten. “A
new commandment I give to you that you should love one another as I have loved
you.”
Unless and until we stop finger pointing, we will never extend our
hands and hearts to them, so they might catch a glimpse of Jesus.
How I view things is how I do things, and if I view people as my
enemy I will treat them as my enemy, but if I view them as Jesus viewed them,
as friends, I will treat them as friends and the Gospel doorway will be open.
Charles Spurgeon was right when he said, “Our love ought to follow
the love of God in one point, namely, in always seeking to produce
reconciliation. It was to this end that God sent His Son.”
You and I have no choice but to do as Jesus did. You may not like
your brother or sister, but you are still called to love him/her for the sake
of Christ, so stop pointing and start praying, stop blaming and start blessing,
stop grumbling and start growing your grace filled life, for anything else is
not an option.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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