Repairers of the Broken Places
John White
Jason Dent | Unsplash
Over a dozen tornadoes ripped through a Midwestern city on Memorial Day of 2019. In the aftermath, tens of thousands of volunteers stormed into the demolished neighborhoods helping with cleanup. A pastor friend of mine called another pastor from a different denomination asking if their churches could join forces on a work project. He declined. Asked why, the pastor informed my friend since they were not from the same denomination that they could not work together closely.
Ouch! There is a lot of division in America right now. These divisions can give joy and energy to some as if it were a sporting event. Others are exhausted and disheartened by it, fearing irreparable damage done. Yet ironically, times of unity are something that we yearn for and are amazed by when we see it or experience it. Remember 9/11? The early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when we were ”all in this together”? How quickly it fades. Do you know that there are forces at work deliberately trying to drive us apart and huddling into our corners with our camps and tribes?
These separations can be the toxic brew where we conveniently cook up inaccurate assumptions, silent judgment, and sweeping stereotypes of those that are not in our tribe, our political party, or even our faith tradition or Christian denomination. Our culture today almost builds incentives for this to happen, and as Christ followers we have many times catastrophically followed suit--even among ourselves. It hurts our witness, weakens our voice, exposes our hypocrisy.
We need to mount our own “resistance” to it all. Our God is in the repairing business: Restoring broken systems, bringing together what is separated, mending what is fractured. And we, the Church, are the tools and vessels to be his partners on his redemptive mission right in our communities and neighborhoods.
As you announce peace with your mouth, make sure that greater peace is in your hearts. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.”
We can choose the much harder path of seeing each other not as a set of beliefs, but as magnificently created image bearers.
This radical countercultural way of seeing each other should unleash the power of working together, shoulder to shoulder across our differences. To bring God's Kingdom and all of its promised abundance to every struggling family--to every wounded child--to every neighborhood in despair.
Jesus challenges all of us to take up the cross and to deny ourselves, our status, our brands--and yes, our egos--to lock arms with those who call Christ the Savior, and realize the mind-blowing discovery that there is more that unites us than divides us. You can choose to courageously step up and step out of your comfort zones and seek to build relationships with those we have differences with on the surface. It starts with relationships.
That is why Christian movements that serve the vulnerable are so made for this moment in American polarization. By being a network of churches that stand in the gap for hurting families, we resist the divisions that entrap us and demonstrate the good news to all. And in doing so we repair the social fabric in the church, in our cities, and in our world.
Reflection Questions:
How or why do you think Christians can be tempted to “huddle in our corners” and not build bridges in our communities?
How have you seen the Church resist the urge to “huddle in our corners” and join forces in their community? What kind of effect has it had?
What is your vision for how working together as churches can change our community?
