At one time, we as a country could rally together around a common good. Think of WWII and the Victory Gardens, the willingness to sacrifice, and the way we were able to prioritize our resources. Why was this possible? The energy and the will for achieving a common good slowly coalesced by acknowledging a common threat, identifying a true source of evil, by agreeing on what the real problem was.
This isn’t to say we’ve always had a stellar track record. Slavery, which was allowable constitutionally, was hotly contested; it was partially the reason for our Civil War. The Constitution isn’t perfect, it’s a guide, it’s important, but being written by fallible men, it will never be the end-all resolution.
Our great nation has had dark periods of wiping out Native Americans and banishing their tribes to the reservation long after they were no longer a threat or of placing Japanese Americans in internment camps, and then again, we are known for doing incredible good for all of humanity in other periods. We are a mixed bag of embarrassments and achievements.
We are living in the best country on this planet, and we have so much to offer the world, if only we could agree on what is good & true. But, therein lies the rub.
It’s hard to settle in on a common good if we disagree about or ignore the real threat. And, you can see where this discrepancy has gotten us as a nation. While it’s nothing new for us, we are so polarized, we can’t replace a Supreme Court Justice without politicizing the entire process. We can’t gain any traction on the Russian interaction in an election that should be far removed from the news-cycle, and we have lost the ability to be bipartisan on nearly every front.
We as a nation have lost our ability to be objective. Why? In part, everything is “left” or “right,” it’s “liberal” or “conservative,” and “We the People” are at odds with the very people we eat dinner with.
Perhaps there’s a solution to our strife. A simple answer to the anger, hatred, and division. I’d like to say Christianity is, but how can I when we have dozens of denominational roadblocks that have segregated even us as the Body of Christ. Have we who confidently sit in our pews and piously observe the Lord’s day, have we really set the example for world peace and cooperation..., or love?
As long as we practically hate other churches while we hide behind our traditions and hang names over the doors of our structures that identify our theological/doctrinal correctness, we are no better than the politicians we criticize & their circus in D.C. I believe in the autonomy of each congregation to follow the Scriptures wherever they think God is leading them, but I don’t believe any of us has the right to feel superior or to condemn one branch or the other.
If we can’t love other folks who do call on the name of the Lord but meet in a different sanctuary, we will never love those who vote differently or speak another language or have a different color skin or sing to the tune of a different anthem.
Until our separate and individual congregations embrace our universal unity in Christ, and until we stop labeling other churches, and until we stop judging other believers, we have nothing to offer to this world except our hypocrisy. May God have mercy on our souls and may we take seriously Jesus’ words which He delivered to a very diverse group, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (JN 13:34-35)
