We Are Christians First
Several years ago, I saw a baby formula commercial that impacted me. The ad opened with a mom whose infant was wrapped to her chest, arriving at the fringes of a playground. Sitting on a bench, she surveyed her surroundings. Immediately hip-hop music played as distinctive groups began to converge around the edges of the playground. Invisible lines began to be drawn with each new arrival.
Career moms assembled away from the stay-at-home dads, and bottle feeders evil-eyed the nursing moms. Suddenly, a faceoff occurred with volleyed verbal attacks. Their comments implied superiority regarding feeding choices, diapering options, environmental concerns, birth plans, and caregiving styles. Each statement represented an underlying worldview about the speaker's parenting decisions. Every choice became an item of contention until finally a brawl would break out.
Do these circumstances seem familiar? Simply change the characters and setting. Perhaps the principal figures are Facebook friends, colleagues, or family members with differing viewpoints other than your own. Any number of opposing viewpoints have the potential to become a breeding ground for dissension, especially during social distancing. Because distance can foster disagreement.
Eric Klinenberg suggests that, “Social distance and segregation – in physical space as well as in lines of communication – breed polarization.” [1] Even within the same congregation, church members may become divided over opinions. Lines are currently being drawn over ways to minister (in-person or remotely), whether to abide by or defy regulations, when and how to eventually reconvene, if masks are necessary or irrelevant, or how to portray community in these unprecedented times. Fill in your own blanks of divisive discourse. How can we expect to reach a divided world if we take a negative view of those with whom we disagree among ourselves?
Let's return to our commercial break to explore one answer. In the melee on the playground, a shift occurs. A child's stroller begins to roll away slowly. One mother notices and her shout is directed away from the intention of destruction and the change in tenor alerts others. Instantly, those previously at odds move as one in pursuit of the runaway buggy.
Thankfully, the effort is successful. The grateful mother is able to declare that all is fine. Relief is evident on everyone’s faces as they turn to embrace and accept each other. It is an example of how people unite when what is important is clear. How much more essential is it for Christians to come together and provide a place for people to unite as we continue to emerge from the separations fueled by COVID-19?
Rom. 15:5-7 is God’s response for how to act toward those with opinions differing from our own. This passage is included in a larger section about the use of Christian freedom. Then in Rom. 14:1-15:13, Paul admonishes his readers not to pass judgment on those with opposing viewpoints. His instruction at the conclusion of this passage is to encourage Christians to get along. Unity is the ultimate endeavor.
As we continue along this unprecedented journey, and as self-quarantine turns into moving out of isolation for so many, may we practice two things that will help us erase the polarization that social distance can create. Klinenberg suggests that, “Contact and conversation remind us of our common humanity.” [2]
So first, as we begin to come back together, let us do the hard work of making empathetic contact with those whose opinions differ from our own. Second, let us create the time and place to participate gracefully in necessary conversations to better understand one another and determine our common purpose. Contact and conversation help us remember the words of Rom. 15:7, to “accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
The tagline for the baby formula commercial I saw read: “No matter what our beliefs, we are parents first. Welcome to the Sisterhood of Motherhood.” [3]
Our tagline as followers of Jesus should be: “No matter what our opinions are, we are Christians first. Welcome to the fellowship of unity.”
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[1] Eric Klinenberg, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life (NY: Broadway Books, 2019): 176.
[2] Ibid.
