A House Divided

"The truth resolves somethings, and adds difficulty to others."                                              -A.W.Tozer

The last couple of days has been quite the emotional trip, but this morning I read this quote and was given a measure of hope. It seemed like it was just the thing i needed to hear to help my troubled mind. You see, a great number of people within my overall community structure have been at war over "getting out the truth" and engaging in (sometimes heated) debates over what should or should not be exposed. At first I wanted to name this post "Give me Justice or Give Me Journalism!", but then I decided that that is not the route I wanted to take with my post. Besides...what was done in the name of journalism can hardly be labeled as such. That's beside the point.

The point is that there has been a line drawn and people have taken sides. Who's right? Who's wrong? Well, if we looked at it honestly and without bias (not an easy task mind you), and tried to look at the whole situation holistically...the answer to both questions is...well..."both" haha. Both parties are right...and both are wrong.

Now before someone leaves a comment saying this is a cop out answer or yells "What the *bleep*?" at me, let me explain.

Granted, I think that one party is more "right" than the other, but if we all would just shut up for just a moment and let down our barriers of pride and self-righteousness...then we could begin to see a little more clearly what the other group is saying.  Both sides have at least one valid point to make and something that can be learned from the other.

I think that key things for us to learn here are:

• Respect for those we have put ourselves under/God has put over us. 
• Respect for those who have a differing opinion and the decency to listen well before making a rebuttal. 
• Realization that just because someone has the right to do something, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. 
• Sin breeds sin.
• Grace breeds grace. 
• Christians are supposed to live in a 200% reality in which they are 100% about grace and 100% about justice. 
• We don't always see everything, so we shouldn't ever act like we do. 
• and that Jesus clearly said "blessed are the peace makers" 

When do something for the sake of doing it, then we aren't doing it with purpose. We should be people who think things through before acting and ask questions like "What will this accomplish?", "Are there consequences and do they affect more than just me?", "Is it beneficial?", "Does my not doing this have repercussions or benefits?", and ultimately  "Does it glorify God?" 

I think that if these questions had been asked by BOTH parties...a lot of strife could have been avoided this week. I love you all and I pray that God will do a work in all our hearts and that things like this will bring about unity in the end (as my Arabic friends say Enshallah). 

Peace be upon you all, 

Stephen