In recent days I have been powerfully and painfully reminded of the types of struggles that everyone goes through. As a pastor, sometimes people are willing to share with me things that they might keep hidden from almost everyone else. Many times they keep these pains and struggles hidden from me as well. In that case, I can only hope to present myself as a safe partner for conversation, and maybe they will be able to be open in the future.
Many diverse people have felt comfortable enough with me in the past few days that they have told me about their struggles. Most are people that others wouldn't even know were suffering. Some are the most optimistic people I know. Everyone is going through something. Everyone is struggling in some way. Everyone has a past, or a fear for the future, or an immediate need. Most have all three.
We do each other a disservice when we think we are the only ones with trouble. Maybe this is at the source of much of our disagreement and misunderstanding of one another. When we aren't able to remember that everyone around us is just as broken as we are in some way, we become less able to offer grace and forgiveness in our relationships. It can cause us to become legalistic, pretending that one size fits all in our rules and regulations, and it keeps us from being able to see the human stories in every conflict.
Jesus modeled this for us as he was confronted with questions about the law and how it should be applied to people. Jesus frequently said things like, "You have heard that it was said... But I say..." When he said those things, I think Jesus wanted us to think about what the letter of the law or rule or cultural norm said, and then ask ourselves what the person we are attempting to judge might feel about that. If someone is hurt, and it is not allowed to heal on the Sabbath, is the person or the law more important? If someone is caught in adultery, and the law is to stone them, which of us should not be stoned for our own sins?
Jesus took the time to learn about the people in these situations and take their circumstances, their pain, their struggles into consideration. We are called to do the same. This is understandably easier for us to do for people who are most like us. But all people are God's people, and we have a responsibility to do our best to understand the pain, the struggles, the needs of others no matter how different they are from ourselves. That is the hard work of following Jesus and of being a good citizen of the world. But if we could do that work better... How many misunderstandings could be avoided? How many conflicts could be lessened? How much more love could there be in the world?
Wouldn't you like to find out?
That's the view from where I stand today. This is a personal reflection. I don't speak for any institution, just for myself and my understanding of how to live into what God calls me to be. Blessings!
Pastor Chris
