The Human One: Being Like Christ Pt. 2

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who shared a different opinion?

Have any of you ever had a conversation with someone who was from a different generation from yourself? Or have you talked with someone who shared a different perspective or opinion than your own? I don’t mean if you posted your opinion on someone’s post on social media, that is not what I am talking about at all. I am asking if you have ever had a face to face conversation with someone different than yourself; not a debate and definitely not an argument, but a simple open conversation? If you haven’t, then why not? There is a Christian response to everything, including how to respond to one another when we disagree. Have you ever asked someone to share their opinion about something without expecting a certain response? How about talked with someone to listen to what they are saying without thinking about what you are going to say next?

Now you have heard from Jesus that we are not to judge one another. Yet many will say, yes but… and some of their reasons are right. Like, when we know something is not right and we feel the urge to offer advise to those who are close to us before they hurt themselves or others. However, we shouldn’t just use this as an excuse. Even still, we should not judge one another.

Pray and read Romans 14:1-13

For this church that Paul was writing to, made up of people who lived in and around Rome, were mostly Gentiles. Gentiles did not have any regulations on what they ate or when. So when some Jews, who also lived in Roman, began to believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah, they began to join the Roman church, and brought with them their Jewish culture. That is what Paul is referring to with the eating argument that he was addressing in these first few verses. Much like the debate on Circumcision, so was there a theological debate on Kosher foods. On either debate, you will find Paul stating that if it doesn’t directly impact a persons Salvation or journey to Holiness, then it shouldn’t be a dividing issue.

Even in the church today , we will find that not everyone agrees on everything. I do hope we all agree on those things outlined in the Apostles Creed. If not, then I have not done a good job. I do hope that we all agree that God is love and that the Word is truth and life. I hope we can all agree that Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit and that we need that inspiration to properly interpret God’s Holy Scripture. Even if everyone who belongs to this church agrees on those statements, there will still be something that not everyone will agree with. As Paul said in verse three, God welcomes all, even those who disagree with one another. So, we should welcome all, even those with whom we disagree.

Simply put, not everyone has the same passions, life experiences or understandings about the million different topics that in in our world today. The beautiful thing is, that it is okay. Being different is something that everyone experiences.

Having a conversation involves listening more than talking.

This is something that you have to try before you can honestly say you agree with or already do when you have conversations with someone. Think about it, how infuriating is it when you are talking to someone and they always respond with a “yeah, but this”, or “you just don’t understand.” Sometimes, we can be guilty of prejudging a person simply by putting their personal experience or perspective in a big generalized box. What would happen if we instead viewed each person not by a label but as an individual and try to understand why they think or feel a certain way? When we as Christians, open up to people who are different then us we build relationships and those relationships lead to feelings of safety where all views can be shared. It is much easier to share the precepts and laws of God with people where are open to receive them. So how can began to build these relationships? How can we open up lines of communication with different people?

Questions before Answers!

We should be asking questions instead of making statements. Instead of just sharing our opinion, we should be asking each other questions, and then allow each other to give an answer. No one person knows everything, right? So that means that we can’t be right all the time either, agreed? But everyone can learn and continue to learn for the rest of their life. We learn by asking questions of one another. We can do research and seek out those who are different than us to find out why we are so different or why we may disagree on things.

So maybe next time you are talking with someone, anyone, you can ask them questions and really listen to them instead of just sharing your own opinions. Everyone will be made accountable to God. That includes you.

Truly, if you want to teach someone something, that you feel is important for them to learn, what do you think would be the most effective way to do this? Should we just think of them as too ignorant to understand and not even try to have a conversation?

Should we state what we believe to be right straight to them whether they except it or not? Should we pretend to have a conversation but really just incite an argument by not listening, but only listening to respond?

If you want to be like Christ and learn what Paul is trying to teach us here, then we will not judge, debate and argue but will first see where someone is coming from. Understand their perspective, hear what they think and then respond in a positive way.

Who do you know that is of a different opinion than your own?

I hope you know someone who is different than yourself who you call your friend. So who do you need to listen too? Is there someone whom you have judged harshly? What would happen if you tried to understand them, and see where they are coming from? Building relationships with different people will help the kingdom grow.