On this day 20 years ago, terrorists tried to destroy our country. Instead, they united us in a way I hadn’t known in my then, 28 years. During those weeks and months following 9/11, we were not male or female, black or white, republican or democrat. We were simply, Americans – united in grief for those lost in the attack, united in pride for those who gave all to save who they could and united in determination to make sure those responsible were held accountable.
Sadly, 20 years later, the unity we felt during that time has been shattered, and our country torn apart.I cannot remember a time during my, now 48 years, that our country has been so divided.
One need only look at our reactions to the coronavirus pandemic to see the depth of the great gulf between us. People are fighting in grocery stores, school board meetings and all over social media trying to make their voices heard and sometimes it seems, trying to make sure their voices are heard over everyone else’s.
Everybody has an opinion and everyone thinks their opinion is correct. What makes it so different from days gone by is that today, opposite opinions are not tolerated, and it doesn’t really seem to matter which side you’re on. The attitude seems to be, if you don’t think the way I do, you don’t deserve to be heard.
How is that America? It’s not!
Even worse, many of the people fostering this attitude are Christians, and it most definitely is not Christian.
I even see people trying to use Jesus to convince people that their stance is the right one.
Some of my friends might say, “Oh, Jesus is love, he’d wear a mask to love his neighbor.”
Others counter with, “No, Jesus is peace, he does not want us to fear. He would not wear a mask.”
Well, yes Jesus is love and yes, Jesus is peace, but do you know what else Jesus is – humble.
I don’t know about you, but I think assuming you know what Jesus would do about anything in our present day culture is presumptuous at best, but then using that to support your opinion on a subject – well, I wouldn’t call that humble – manipulative maybe, but not humble.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand where the sentiment comes from. I know a lot of people are genuinely trying to figure out what God would have them do in this crazy, scary situation we find ourselves in.
It’s just, I think sometimes we become a little more concerned about getting our own message across, than getting Christ’s message across.
Making statements like the ones above just divides people even more because it automatically presumes that the people who think differently than you are not acting like Christ and you are and that is obviously, the opposite of humility.
And I can be just as guilty of this as anyone, but if we truly want to be like Christ, if we truly want to unite our world, humility is one characteristic we have got to have.
The familiar passage in Philippians says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Another version says it this way, “In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought. He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit. Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God.”
Christ did not have to come here to be King. He was already King, already part of the triune deity that created us. He had it all, and he gave up everything for us. Not only that, he gave up royalty for poverty, traded deity for humanity. He became nothing – for us. His mind was always on us and our needs, never on himself or what he could gain.
If we could only foster that attitude as we deal with people who have a different opinion than our own, what a difference we could make,
If we thought of them as a person first, not an opponent.
If we realized that, guess what, maybe we don’t always have to have the last word or shout the other person down. Maybe it would be wiser, kinder, more Christ-like to not only hear their point of view, but dig a little deeper and find out why they have that point of view. What life circumstances led them to form the opinions that they hold.
We may find that we have more in common than we think, and even if we don’t there’s one key thing we all have in common and that’s our need for Christ.
Since birth we’ve been plagued with a disease far more deadly than COVID-19 and far more widespread, in fact it has infected us all. The good news is that we know the cure and if you accept it – it lasts for eternity.
Sin is the disease. Christ is the cure.
It’s that simple. Oh, the devil, he’s a sly one, he can throw us into a tizzy about the slightest thing and keep us fighting about trivial matters while our friends and loved ones are going into eternity without Christ.
Friends, we need to keep our priorities in order. Think long and hard about that friend at work, that relative or that neighbor whose opinions don’t align with yours. Is it more important to win a battle over politics at the water cooler or to win the battle for their soul in light of eternity?
So I confess, even though I’ve prayed and read and prayed some more, I’m still not sure what Jesus would do in some of the situations we’re faced with today. However, I have learned a few things he wouldn’t do.
He wouldn’t cough on some unsuspecting shopper in a grocery store just because she had a mask on, and he wouldn’t pull out a gun and shoot someone as they entered a store just because they didn’t have a mask on.
He wouldn’t mock and ridicule someone because they chose to take a vaccine they felt would save their life, and he wouldn’t disassociate with friends and family because they decided not to take a vaccine they felt might not be the right choice for them.
He would listen, he would give grace, and even if he didn’t agree with their point of view, he would love them anyway. Because he would put them first!
I know that is far easier said than done for human beings, but 9/11/2001 showed us that it can be done. Those brave men and women who went into those buildings, knowing it could very well mean their death, showed us the best of our humanity. We can do it. It is possible. We can put others first with no regard to ourselves.
As we remember them today, may we not only remember their sacrifice but the spirit of humility they showed in putting others before themselves. May we take that into our everyday dealings with our fellow Americans. Their eternity could depend on it.
United we stand. Divided we fall.
May we never forget!
I have thought a lot about the very things you say in your article. I have friends and family who think differently than me. That is their right, just as it is my right to think the way I do. I don’t want to fight with them about this, I love them, regardless of their views. I have been trying to go on by, if I see a post on Facebook, I disagree with. It does not change anyone’s mind and sometimes, it gets ugly. Thanks for making me a little more aware of how I should act.