Sides...
It seems like we can’t get away from them in this country, and the divides continue to grow. Unfortunately, the recent tragedy in Charlottesville has only served to further the divide, when it should be a catalyst for unity. But with each new tragedy, with each protest gone wrong, with each domestic act of terror (whatever the source), we cannot bring ourselves to reach across the divide to the humanity on the other side. Instead there are endless fingers pointing at who is to blame. There is condemnation from both sides for being provokers, for responding poorly and/or for retaliating inappropriately. Whatever one side does in response, it is not enough for the other side, or worse, it is deemed wrong and inflammatory. Whatever one side did previous to the tragedy, the other side somehow interprets it as complicity or instigation.
Why do we insist on staking claim to a side and defending it all costs? Why are we willing to forgive the flaws of those on our side, but demand the severest penalty when the flaws of the other side are exposed? Why do we abhor the mistakes of one side, and defend the mistakes of those on our side or even pretend that they don’t exist? Why do we allow our side to define us? Why are we so quick to assume evil intent from every human being remotely associated with the other side? Why do we even turn even the common ground into a battle ground? Why do we refuse to build bridges unless they only travel one way?
Sides…
I hate them…
And we should. But let's be clear - we should hate sides, but not the people who stand on them. It is because of our hatred for people who stand on a side, that we find ourselves in such dire times. We have lost sight of respectful disagreement. We have lost sight of the power of middle ground. We have lost sight that our enemy is not each other - not flesh and blood. Trump is not the enemy and Obama is not the enemy. The enemy is neither Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. And to pin the blame for our current problems on any one person, gives that person too much credit, and us too little. Our current problems lie in our inability to look across the divide and see human beings who see problems and solutions differently from us. We demand respect from the other side, but refuse to give it. We expect concessions, but refuse to make any. We fight for our right to be heard, while shouting down the other side. We act as if we have a monopoly on truth and there can be none from the other side. We treat the other side like the lepers of old… the ones Jesus touched, and loved and healed.
Our insistence on sides, on blame, on division, on “us” and “them,” prevents us from dealing even with the most obvious of common foes - racism, terror, murder. We can’t even recognize Satan in the most blatant evils because we are too busy looking for him on the other side. Making things worse, we use Satan’s tools - hatred, violence, revenge, lawlessness - to fight people, and ignore God's tools - prayer, love, peace, kindness, respect - to fight the evil in our midst. While we look across, Satan thrives in the expanse between us, feeding on our cooperation with his agenda, facing minimal resistance, relishing our ignorance. Instead of crushing him by closing the gap, we continue to give him even greater space.
Satan savors our divisions.
Until we are able to see the human beings on the other side and recognize that they are much like us, until we are able to curb our hatred for the sake of respect and progress, until we able to see the possibilities of engaging the other side, we will always look across a growing, bridgeless chasm of regression. It will never be our fault, it will always be theirs. There will always be sides where there should be none and we will always lose sight of who it is we should be fighting.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens."
Ephesians 6:12
https://www.bible.com/bible/107/EPH.6.12
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