Bioswale garden, Springfield (OR) LTD transit center (2024)

Approx. read time: 1:30 min.

Frankly? I’m tired of the which-side-are-you-on wars.

Whether the wars are political, military, cultural, ideological, or just bad blood between siblings, neighbors, coworkers, or former spouses, these endless battles exhaust the life out of everything.

Pitting one side against the other flattens the conversation, dulls the imagination, and cedes not one inch for something beyond clashing dualities and triumph at any cost. 

The Apostle Paul says that there’s “a more excellent way.” It’s the way of Love (see 1 Corinthians 12:31). Not “playing nice,” but Love. Compassionate, costly Love.

Love is patient, he writes; it does not seek to dominate the conversation nor win the debate. Love forgoes the satisfaction of crushing the enemy.

What I discover is that if my theology—my take on what God means—conveniently allows me to harm my neighbor, then I need a better theology. Jesus insists that loving my enemy is the starting point.

Better yet is drawing close enough—nonthreateningly—to my “enemy” to actually hear where they’re coming from. Imagine, recognizing this “enemy” as simply a companion on the shared path of loss, brokenness, tears, hope, and the possibility of peace. That’s called conversion of heart. Hopefully their heart; certainly mine.

Our God-talk needs to ring true. If it doesn’t, then it’s time we embrace a better theology.

Be well. Love one another. Live in Peace.

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