This week’s devotion…
“Split Infinity?”
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. –Matthew 25:32-33
A visitor stood up in church this Sunday during our prayer time and complimented me on my sermon. That felt good. He went on to explain his reasons for liking my sermon, based on a political ideology pretty much the opposite of my own. That felt…weird.
Isn’t it strange how two people who have widely varying political and social viewpoints can worship the same God?
On Facebook this week I asked a question about health care. It was amazing to read the many responses I got. These are all my “friends” on facebook, remember. People that I like and enjoy being in relationship with. And yet, our views on health care were adamantly all over the place.
Isn’t it strange how people you know and like and even love can disagree on such fundamental issues? I’ll bet you have your share of family gatherings where you can talk and joke around …”but don’t talk politics or religion around Uncle Steve.”
It’s amazing to me to see our nation so split about certain important issues. Sometimes it feels like there are two camps, one red and one blue, poised on the brink of civil war. Sad, isn’t it? I wonder…will it always be this way?
Jesus split people up into two groups, didn’t he? At least metaphorically he talked about sorting out the sheep from the goats. The good sheep were put on the right, and the bad goats were put on the left. Hmm, does that mean Jesus has right-leaning tendencies? (Ha!)
No, when Jesus separates the sheep from the goats, it’s not based on a political ideology or a social position. Jesus didn’t ask each sheep or goat to lay out their political platform or declare their voting record. Jesus was looking at lived faith.
How have you lived out of love for God and neighbor? As crazy as it may seem, there are people on both sides of the aisle trying very hard to do just that. And as sad as it is to say, there are people on both sides that aren’t doing much at all.
Hmm. Perhaps the criteria we use to split ourselves into opposing groups is different from the criteria God uses.
The moral of this story? Don’t put your politics above your faith. It’s important to believe in something and advocate for it. It’s even important to debate and disagree. But don’t assume you can always spot a sheep from a goat. In fact, that’s not even your job. Your job is to become a sheep.
This world moves closer to the Kingdom of God when, even in spite of those polarizing issues that threaten to split us up, we celebrate how each of us have lived out our faith. How we have cared for the least of these.
You know what? I love being part of a church where goats of all different persuasions try to become sheep, together.
Choose your tagline…
a) That’s not such a bahhhd thing, is it?
b) It means we’ve Herd the Good News together.
c) Many flocks…One Shepherd.
Have a Great Week,
Mitch
