Are You Kind?
August 8, 2019 | by: Bill Burns | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
By Guest Author, Bill Burns.
“And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:24–26)
If you’re like me, the horrible news from El Paso and Dayton have us struggling to know what to think, let alone do about the plague that seems to be running rampant in our society today. Some shout and scream at one another. Others tune out the news…turn inward. If we could all just do X, or leave one another alone, or reach out to one another and help those less fortunate. Pass another law. Get people to see things differently. Perhaps then we’d be free of this or that vexing problem.
As Christians, though, we would do well to recall the first murder recorded for us in Holy Scripture is a fratricide. Brother killing brother. In a very real sense, every murder is a fratricide. Every murder is a fist shaken at God, or at least at His image, borne in the body of our intended target. These horrible crimes reflect a sort of blindness in humankind. And it’s a blindness we all suffer from and with every sin we commit against each other. We have lost a sense of our relation to one another, and certainly to God as Creator and Lord. And that blindness has been with us since Adam sinned and was expelled from Eden.
At times, it seems there is little hope for the world, doesn’t it? How can we go on like this? At other times, we wonder; is it really worse now than ever or is it just that it seems like it with the 24-hour news cycle. Our devices buzz and chirp incessantly, literally day and night, popping up notifications to share the latest grim episode to read about. At the risk of just being yet one more voice in the din of the aftermath of the latest of these grim episodes, let’s remember who we are.
Those of us who ‘take the Name’ of Christ, let us be mindful not to do so in vain. We have a message of hope in an otherwise hopeless world. Let us recall Jesus’ simplest and yet most profound teaching. As He prepared to die, He tells his disciples,
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
This is a lot harder to do than it seems, of course.
So, let’s pray for our Helper to come alongside us, and empower us to do this very thing. Then, we will be ready to “go and make disciples” from every tribe, tongue and nation. Then we can be like the earliest disciples, emulating Christ, and calling our neighbors to “Come and see.” (John 1:46) Let us pray together that we may, as the Apostle Paul admonishes us “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” (Titus 2:10)
And may God add to our number, so that He is glorified, and so we may enjoy Him, in the midst of a multitude without number, together, forever.
Can I get an “Amen!”?
