What to Make of all This
Over the past few weeks I have been following the developing story in our government over the issue of health care. With the passing of the bill on Sunday and the signing of the bill on Tuesday of this week there has been all sorts of stories hitting the airwaves concerning the meaning behind the passing of this legislation.
Prior to the passage of the bill lines have been drawn in the sand with all sorts of threats being made on both sides of the issue concerning what the passage or the failure of passing such a bill would mean for the people of our country.
I must admit I have been for a long time tired of all the threats, accusations, name calling and warnings being given from both sides. The result has been we are living in a divided society each accusing the other of being the cause of the problem.
I have learned a couple of things from what I have been seeing going on. First, if I don't get what I want then I can resort to any tactic in order to get my point across. It does not matter if it is in good taste or not or even if the statement is true. I will do whatever I need to do to turn people to my side because I am right. In the most recent presidential election I was sent information from one side I would label as being racist and I received info from the other side calling into question the history of the other candidate. It is all right to say anything true or not as long as you convince people of your point and belittle the other side. Over the past year I have been called not a true Christian, a socialist and bleeding heart liberal for some stands I have taken. It seems when ever we begin to lose an argument that is when it is all right to resort to name calling.
The second thing I have learned from this is we have lost sight of what is good for the people and replaced it with what is good for me.
I believe it is time for the church to take a stand and become the prophetic voice in the country it has been called to be. In order to do that we need to first of all be willing to listen to the people. This means all the people not just the ones on the side I am on. This week we began a book study at my church based upon the book Rediscovering Values by Jim Wallis. Now Wallis presents a particular view and comes from a certain mindset. There are people in the study who do not follow Wallis' view and they are free to present their viewpoint in the study without retribution. It is a way in which we can begin to dialogue about the differences which exist and wrestle with the issues.
It is not my goal in the study to convince everyone to my point of view but to engage in a conversation in which people can hear where others are coming from and in the end I believe we will discover we share some common concerns. The church needs to lead the way in being an example for others to follow by no stooping to the tactics which belittle or berate others. A person told me a long time ago, it is hard to hate someone you are praying for. We need to pray for one another and not that they will see things our way.
If we continue on this road I believe the results will be disastrous for eveyone.
Over the past few weeks I have been following the developing story in our government over the issue of health care. With the passing of the bill on Sunday and the signing of the bill on Tuesday of this week there has been all sorts of stories hitting the airwaves concerning the meaning behind the passing of this legislation.
Prior to the passage of the bill lines have been drawn in the sand with all sorts of threats being made on both sides of the issue concerning what the passage or the failure of passing such a bill would mean for the people of our country.
I must admit I have been for a long time tired of all the threats, accusations, name calling and warnings being given from both sides. The result has been we are living in a divided society each accusing the other of being the cause of the problem.
I have learned a couple of things from what I have been seeing going on. First, if I don't get what I want then I can resort to any tactic in order to get my point across. It does not matter if it is in good taste or not or even if the statement is true. I will do whatever I need to do to turn people to my side because I am right. In the most recent presidential election I was sent information from one side I would label as being racist and I received info from the other side calling into question the history of the other candidate. It is all right to say anything true or not as long as you convince people of your point and belittle the other side. Over the past year I have been called not a true Christian, a socialist and bleeding heart liberal for some stands I have taken. It seems when ever we begin to lose an argument that is when it is all right to resort to name calling.
The second thing I have learned from this is we have lost sight of what is good for the people and replaced it with what is good for me.
I believe it is time for the church to take a stand and become the prophetic voice in the country it has been called to be. In order to do that we need to first of all be willing to listen to the people. This means all the people not just the ones on the side I am on. This week we began a book study at my church based upon the book Rediscovering Values by Jim Wallis. Now Wallis presents a particular view and comes from a certain mindset. There are people in the study who do not follow Wallis' view and they are free to present their viewpoint in the study without retribution. It is a way in which we can begin to dialogue about the differences which exist and wrestle with the issues.
It is not my goal in the study to convince everyone to my point of view but to engage in a conversation in which people can hear where others are coming from and in the end I believe we will discover we share some common concerns. The church needs to lead the way in being an example for others to follow by no stooping to the tactics which belittle or berate others. A person told me a long time ago, it is hard to hate someone you are praying for. We need to pray for one another and not that they will see things our way.
If we continue on this road I believe the results will be disastrous for eveyone.
1 comment:
I find the best way to begin a dialogue is to listen, understand and find value in the person behind the beliefs. I find I get the most value in understanding why someone hold their beliefs even if I do not agree with the viewpoint.
In asking others to question their beliefs we should have the expectation that we will have to question our own to find a common ground. I don't think anyone has all the right answers. I think it is a good practice to constantly be vetting our beliefs by letting them be challenged and by exploring opposing points of view.
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