I mentioned earlier this week about the pastor who thought that some people were feeling a sense of shame at being known as Christians. When I pursued that with him, he mentioned the actions of the extreme right wing of Christianity. The political and religious exclusivity of some forms of Christianity is perceived negatively by many. This is especially true when it leads to public fighting and splits within a faith community whose Lord said that they will know we are his disciples if we love one another. (John 13:35)
I think that as a counter-point to such behavior, we need to identify what makes us feel good about our faith. Hopefully we have passed the point where we think that the way to promote harmony is to water down the faith so that it does not challenge what others believe. Perhaps now it is time to explore how we acknowledge where our beliefs and behaviors set us apart from others without a concurrent judgment against them. In essence, do we not need to learn how to “speak the truth in love” with those who differ from us.
Can you imagine a more powerful witness in our fractious times than demonstrating how to live in diversity without a self-righteousness that leads to segregation and even violence. We don’t need to learn how to live among those who all agree with us. We need to learn how to live among those who differ and accord them the respect that suggests that God can speak to us through them even as God can speak to them through us. If the Roman centurion can be an exemplar of faith even though he didn’t have the faith of Israel, then can’t we deepen our own faith by being open to God speaking to us through those who differ from us.
