Lately I’ve been struggling to deal with a strange separation happening between me and some of my family members. It started a couple of years ago. The spread of illness and isolation took us all by surprise, and then cultural changes moved, political climates shifted, and what many of us thought were positive advances in technology, and social media quietly changed norms and what has become acceptable and not. Many of us are still trying to manage these shifts and changes and still feel some joy in our lives.

I noticed over the past 18 months or so that there are those of us who have become weary. Weary of how to keep up with the changes. How those changes affect us and our families…but more importantly, how they affect our walk with Christ. As if these things weren’t enough to navigate, I have found myself at odds with some family members that I never thought I would. We didn’t plan to be on opposite sides, we just began to choose things that demonstrated our unique foundational differences. One takes the blue pill, the other-the red. We no longer discuss our views with reason…but with absolutes. You are either a “this” or a “that.” There is no longer a way to middle ground. We have become the Hatfields and the McCoys. You’re either for or against me. No collabs, welcomed. It isn’t just that we see the world differently, it is that we are teetering on becoming intolerant of anyone who disagrees with us.

I remember when I was in high school, debate was not only encouraged but revered as the absolute highest form of human communications. The ability to have an opinion and respectively argue your stand on it, while respecting the opinion of your opponent and their respective stand, was the means to an end to…well, gain knowledge and understanding. It was a way to open minds to the possibilities of both sides and find some common ground. In our culture right now, the arguing IS the end…and no longer the means.

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV): “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought”.

Paul writes to the Corinthian church that they get along and don’t entertain divisiveness among them. Like this church, many of the churches we assemble in today struggle with taking sides, either with religious doctrine or societal mores. More specifically and individually, we have become a body of believers that feels the need to ‘pick a side, dude.’ But in choosing sides, are we representing the Christ of the Cross we supposedly follow…or are we making a name for ourselves with the world?

Jesus had some rather interesting things to say about His role in the division of the family; church family, yes, but in particular, our biological family. In Luke, chapter 12, verses 51-53, Jesus says some really disturbing stuff. He poses this question to his listeners;
“(51) Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. (52) From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. (53) They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

As I watch this phenomenon happen in my own family in real time, I question whether or not I am lining my own views with the Word of God, or am I responding out of my emotions with reactions that may only be expressions of my fleshly world view. This situation has caused me to think twice about what I am choosing to line myself up with; and to question my motives for doing so. I am learning to accept the family member, or friend, or co-worker, or church member with the love Jesus loves me with. I am also learning to know when to challenge a belief or allow myself to be challenged. Much of the trauma in our societal interactions are caused by not stopping to see the motives behind a person’s view. Checking to see if their opinion is based in biblical relevance or if it is world inspired humanism. It is becoming harder to separate some of these issues. The only real constant guide of truth is the undefiled Word of God as written in the Holy Bible. The world may accuse it of being obsolete and unnecessary, but I have found it to be the only true source of wisdom, truth and revelation in this walk.

I love my family. But I don’t have to agree with anything that pits itself against my belief in the standards of God. I pray over my family. But I am not obligated to walk in any mindset that is in opposition to the statutes of the Word of God. I may have to walk alone sometimes, but I have a Heavenly Father that is always surrounding me with His protection, provision, and presence. I may not agree with you, but I respect your position and would offer the teachings of the Holy Bible as the foundation to help us come to wise, holy and anointed conclusions. Even if, especially if, I’m wrong.

The truth of the matter is…God is always right.

Be blessed and safe, until next time…vw1.