Recently I have been in situations where there have been problems seen in other groups - it seems so clear that this other group of people is doing something wrong (and often they are). It seems so outrageous and confusing why and how they could do something so atrocious, yet they do! How could it be?
Yet, after talking with someone in the "other" camp and being treated with such grace and humility it caused me to step back and consider the sin that I/we brought to the situation. It sort of hit me that as we look at the "other" we fail to look at ourselves. This feels like a mini ethnocentricism. We get wrapped up in the idea that we are totally right and have no reason to repent or change because the "other" is so apparently wrong.
But in this all, we as a group of complaining people have a log in our own eye that we are failing to see and get out. Yes, the "other" may be doing something wrong, but so often our approach is to badger and berate, to accuse and condemn instead of humbling ourselves, seeking repentance and out of love, grace and humility seeking to restore and strengthen the "other" people. This is an individual principle that Christ extols (Matthew 7:3-5), but it is so applicable and needed as we are in groups - especially Christian groups - so that we can truly love, serve and build up those around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment