Ah confederate flags and facebook drama

There’s several big political storms that have come to a recent head. Don’t believe me? Then you are clearly living in a hole.

Everyone I know has made some kind of pro or con statement regarding the recent same sex marriage ruling from the supreme court. Human rights activists, neighbours, and denominations have all put their foot down regarding where they stand.

Where the churches have been, I wish I could say strangely, silent is the matter of the confederate flag. It’s easy to make your stand against something that involves the “other”: the one who is not in our congregation, the one who is not in our family, the one who is on the other side of this political divide.

It’s not generally so easy to make a stand against something when people who are within are churches are probably defending it. Now, to be completely honest, I have not had one Christian friend defend the use of the flag either on facebook or in person. I have had several people make light of the situation and a lot of silence on the matter.

I’m not really the kind of person who has a deep-seated attachment to a denomination but my husband is so we are Church of God. You know who makes up the Church of God? White southerners, black southerners, hispanics, churches in Korea, churches in England, White and black Canadians, and a host of other countries that I won’t go on to list. It’s a multi-national church made up of a mix of races and nationalities from countries spread out across the globe. It’s not white only, it’s white and black and hispanic and asian.

I personally don’t care whether taking it down is the “politically” correct thing to do. I really don’t. What I want to be convinced of is whether something is the correct thing to do. I don’t care whether the world wants to be upset if it’s up or down, I want the church to act like the church and move from that framework.

So convince me that leaving it up is the correct thing to do.

Because Jesus said that people would know that we were his disciple by our love for one another (John 13:35). Is leaving the flag up showing love for our African American brothers and sisters? What do they say on the subject? Is is loving to leave up a flag used by so many as hate?

Is our leaving it up encouraging others to hate, even if it’s not our intention? Remember that Paul said that if what he ate caused his brother to sin, he’s never eat it again (1 Corinthians 8:13)

Does leaving it up for reasons of heritage cause a dividing wall among us? Remember that in Christ there are no more artificial divides but we are all one.

Convince me that leaving the flag up is the correct thing to do. Don’t sweep it under as “they shouldn’t be so easily offended” or “it’s not that big of a deal.” If the flag does not offend you, then you should be taking a good look at what everyone around you is saying. If you are the “stronger” who are not offended, you need to take into account the “weak.”

Don’t worry about whether it’s the politically correct thing to do, worry about whether it’s the right thing to do.

Election season

Oh, joy.

It appears as though a year and a half in advance of the actual Election Day, the season of endless articles, big announcements and vitriol spitting from all directions has officially begun.

I think it might help us all to remember that regardless if you are republican or democrat, libertarian or  moderate, we all have more in common that what divides us. We all also have a responsibility to treat each other as Christ would want us to. We live in an increasingly negative society. It seems as though with the ability to hide somewhat anonymously behind our keyboards and screens, we say things that we might not actually say in person. It's also easier to misunderstand someone because you can't communicate tone well.

So we post articles whose headlines are intended to deride the "other party."

Or we make comments that are negative and unhelpful about the "other team."

Or we read articles that present the views we disagree with in the worse possible light and that mock the "other."

Me against you. Us against them. The division keeps on deepening so long as we encourage it to.

I'm not against political debate.Some of the best conversations I've ever had were with a few individuals that I disagreed with on just about every thing you can but that I knew loved me and I loved them. We disagreed but we treated each other with respect.

It wasn't Jennifer vs. Harry. It was Jennifer and Harry exchanging ideas.

It wasn't Jennifer vs. Brian. It was Jennifer and Brian finding middle ground in playful debate.

The difference is that they were never the "other" to me. They were my friend and family. They were people I socialized with and had come to respect. I never cast them in the mold of the opponent because they weren't.  Now I've been just as guilty, perhaps more so then many, of pushing my own views of politics when I should back down and keep the peace.

I try to remember now though that even when I disagree with someone, they are still someone that God loves. Someone whose life God is working on and someone that I can learn from if I take the time to listen.

We may disagree but that doesn't mean that it's ever helpful to build walls up instead of opening conversation. No one is the "other" in God's eyes. We are all his creation and are all deserving of respect.