Should We Abandon Those Who Disagree With Us? [ repost]

"...abandoning those who disagree? 

Saying farewell to those whose doctrines are not like ours? 

This is nothing short of the power mongering spirit of the world."

from the blog of Donald Miller

~~~~~

What I love about our faith is it’s power to reconcile. At the beginning of the church, just after Christ went back to be with the Father, the Spirit was sent to reconcile Jews and Gentiles (and yes, even Muslims) with no shortage of truth. But the spirit of that movement was love, peace and reconciliation.

In history, there are very few movements that involve strong, unshakeable statements of truth of which people did not lift a weapon to defend. These leaders were not willing to compromise, but were very willing to die at the hands of their enemies.

We’ve all met believers who use the Bible to divide. And to abandon. If we associate our identities with dogma rather than the person of Christ, this will always be the temptation. Satan uses Scripture, too.

Does truth divide? Certainly.

When I think about Christ being the Prince of Peace and also coming to divide families, I picture Martin Luther King, Jr. marching across the bridge in Salma, Alabama.

It was a tense scene, to be sure, and the movement he championed would divide a nation. And yet, the tension caused wasn’t caused with violence, it was caused with non-violent resistance. Love our enemies was the “battle cry” of a great portion of the civil rights movement. Turning the other cheek was the command of the day. And it worked.

Sometimes, taking stands in love is paramount. But abandoning those who disagree? Saying farewell to those whose doctrines are not like ours? This is nothing short of the power mongering spirit of the world. A world that seeks temporary power, like a man getting his blows in on his way to the executioners chamber. This man wants to hurt, not to reconcile. He wants to do more damage to feel his own power. Even if he doesn’t understand his motives.

What is the self righteous man defending? Why is he lashing out? He’s defending his own truth, rather than a truth that has changed his heart into a loving, humble child of God.

In our everyday lives, this looks like disagreeing while still being truly loving, and even going so far as to honor the nobility and dignity of all of God’s creation. Our love is not a statement of agreement, it is, rather, a powerful statement about the power of truth, a truth that heals the heart and protects it from the spirit of the world.

Loving those who disagree with us differentiates us from the spirit of the world and makes a powerful statement about the relevancy of Christ and His mission to reconcile all people to Himself, and to each other.

Reach out to those who disagree with you and truly validate their humanity. God does. Because, after all, the chances of all our ideas being right are a billion to one, and God validates us all the same. He does this because He loves us. His children don’t need to be right to be loved.

-Donald Miller