Division and common ground

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

          What strikes so deeply about this passage is the admonition to be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. When I look around, all I see is division. There is the worst kind of division among nations. Whether it is the theocracies that think the rest of the world are infidels, the nations that have "God on their side" and brand other nations as the "axis of evil".  However justified in the minds of leaders, there is no arguing how divided we are. How about within our own country?  The blue states, the red states, the liberals, the conservatives. The right to lifers, pro-choice advocates, marriage equality and boatloads of anti gay rhetoric. We seem divided at every turn. I am sure your mind conjures up countless others too. My mind spins at the thought of how divided we are. Religions find 'justifiable' divisions as well. The Jews, the Muslims, those Roman Catholics and firebrand Pentecostals, reformers, Quakers and queer churches.

               That all seemed a bit too much to handle. I began to think about people are divided even within themselves. We all learned growing up how differently we may have needed to act with our parents and family versus our friends. We are dividing ourself.  The other extreme are those that have true mental illness and they may have a severely separated personality.   Within the middle is another kind of bifurcated personality, one that I could easily have fallen into. As a gay man, as a gay religious and family man, I could have divided my life as so many religious do. Live two separate lives. This is a horrible and unhealthy division that sadly some religions perpetuate by their own sick dogma.

            What are we to do? How can we solve these divisions of self, of community, of church, state and world? There once was a man named Thomas Merton, a very holy man. He was Catholic monk. Yet this man found acceptance in a diverse array of the worlds religions. It would be worth your time to delve into some of his readings. The reason that I believe he was so accepted is that he found that foundational basis we all can agree on. He had once said that if we argued on dogmas, we would never be able to agree on anything. So what was his foundation that all seemed to agree upon? It is not anything new really, Christ preached as much himself before some of his followers bastardized, contained, codified and 'intrpreted' his teachings. 

            The basis of universal agreement is love. Pretty simple. All the worlds religions, no matter how proclaimed or professed explain the fact that God created the world in love. God created each one of us and God wishes us to nothing more than love each other, ourselves and have a loving relationship with him.  Can we agree on that ? I think so.  We may explain it differently. If we are not arrogant, we can see that we all have a path to wholeness God wishes for each and every one of us.

         Perhaps we can meditate on the sadness of division and the joy of the love our creator gives us.

Share the love. 

             

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.

What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."

Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name.

(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.