Welcome to #ATLT, At the Lord’s Table: A Conversation, a series of over 50 posts from varying authors about the beautiful, mangled Church. Look for at least two new posts every Monday through Saturday between January 25th and February 22nd. Join us in the conversation? See you in the comments.
It is easy to fight with each other. It is easy to read between the lines of the written word, regardless of its length, and imagine there is more or worse being said, imagine there is more or worse implied than the words have communicated.
It is easy, reading words on screen or page, to condemn the author of the tweet, blog, Facebook post, or book. They are not next to you or to me as we seethe with fury and religiosity, unable to believe another Christian could hold that position, could say those things, could do those things, and still call him or herself a person of True Faith.
It is easy to believe that our own positions, our own opinions, regardless of how well researched they are, are correct.
It is easy to draw a line and declare us versus them. It is written into our history, as Adam distanced himself from his wife, declaring she was the one who suggested they eat the forbidden fruit, and as Eve distanced herself from the serpent, declaring it was the one to blame.
It is easy to declare that you and I are not those kinds of Christians. It is easy to distance ourselves from those with whom we disagree.
But.
But. This Body. This Body, as our dear brother Paul said, “iis a unit, though it is made of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.”
These are hard words when hearts are hard.
These are hard words when words are drenched in hate and division.
These are hard words when understanding and open conversation rooted in blood soaked love and grace are absent.
But brothers and sisters, you and I are all we have. This Church is all we have. There is no local church, there is only the global Body of Christ, to which those of us who profess Jesus Christ is Lord all belong.
This is not a call to let all hurts and hard words and false teachings slide.
It is a call to live out what it means to be the Church. It is a call to let the words we speak to one another be words that are helpful, words that are for building others up according to their needs.
It is a call, as Paul exhorts the church in Ephesus, to “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. To be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other as in Christ God forgave you.”
Let us suffer our differences in love.
Let us suffer one another as we each one of us struggle and strain to live out the hope we profess in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Let us suffer one another because the One who calls us suffers us as we struggle and strain to live out the hope we have in Him.
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read the post before this one, here.
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Haley Cloyd
Haley is a Pacific Northwesterner at heart who loves Jesus, calls people dude, and dreads a morning without coffee. When she’s not at her day job, she works with high school students, knits, writes (or at least thinks about writing), reads one of the eight books she’s currently in the middle of, and loves people through baked goods. Haley has also been known, on occasion, to run distances that some people consider too long.
PS. Haley almost always has something more to say.
PPS. By almost always, she means always.
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