Running through my neighborhood is one of my favorite places to ponder. It struck me, as I was running the other day, that after deeply thinking through whatever situation happens to be running through my mind on any particular day, if I think it through all the way, the conclusion I seem to always come to is... love. Putting love above everything else... it's always the answer.
Today, after sharing a meal together, our fellowship group moved outside to the deck to continue our discussion. I love this group that often meets here on Sundays. There is no agenda, except to get together for meaningful conversation. We just take turns bringing up topics to discuss, never knowing where the conversation will take us. One of the things I love about this group is that we respect one another and are not about forcing our opinions on each other. There is no pressure to hide or perform because everyone is loved and accepted just as they are. It's a safe place where everyone is free to take off their masks and be real. When we come together, we leave judgement at the door and put on love which allows us to honestly sort through our journeys together. It's less about coming to agreements and dogmatic conclusions and more about moving in a direction toward Him who is Love.
Todays topic came from 1 Cor. 1:10 where Paul was pleading with the christians to not be divided, but to be perfectly united in mind and thought. I used to read that scripture and think that if everyone would just read the bible and agree with what it said (or agree with what I thought it said), we'd all be united. As I got older, I realized that there were many sincere, spiritual, learned people that read the scriptures and came to some very different conclusions. The way I read that scripture caused more disunity than unity. In fact, it's one of the reasons we have so many denominations. (If you don't agree with me, you're not a christian!) Since all truth is only found in Christ and the rest of us can only see but a poor reflection of it, it seems to me that Paul wasn't calling us to line up all our beliefs with each other, but rather to bear with one another in love as we move in the direction of Christ, following Him to the best of our ability.
Unity is to be based more upon showing love and grace toward one another than upon agreeing with one another. Philippians 3 talks about forgetting what is behind and pressing forward... It says, "And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we've already attained." Romans 14:1-23 is a beautiful illustration of this grace that we are to extend toward one another; "One person's faith allows him to eat meat, another's doesn't... One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike... Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another." Let us be for one another instead of against one another, connecting with each other in our weakness and loving each other toward fullness.
If we were really to put love above everything else; above doctrine, above the way we live, above being right, above our pride, above our fear... we would find unity. Love is what bridges the gap. It bridges the gap between us and God and between us and another. It's the way christians are called to bridge the gap between God and others (Jn 13:34) because love is the way to healing, wholeness, and transformation. Jesus showed us the way, the narrow path. Love is the answer to everything.
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