“Division”
SCRIPTURE
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. —Galatians 3:26-29
DEVOTIONAL
Catholic theologian Robert Schreiter has this theory as to the source of violence. It is simple, he says, we forget who we are. According to Schreiter, humans become insecure and uncertain in a dangerous world and (to make it worse) we are not told who we are. So to ease that sense of vulnerability, we build our own sense of self. We define ourselves with what is around us; what we do for a living, what we drive, what we wear, where we live, our politics, our religion – even our ideology about the way the world should be. Security comes through a network of people who can affirm the identities we’ve created.
But deep down, Schreiter argues, we know that these human constructs are just that. So when these self-made identities are questioned, we become anxious and we either disengage or fire back. We consider ourselves victims and, as a response, we begin to victimize. We justify our created “selves” by deflecting to and judging others; we call them lesser, not as good. We say that “they” are wrong. All of these are, more often than not, just fancy ways of telling ourselves over and over again that “we” are right. 1
Schreiter says that to end this cycle, we have to first be reminded of who we truly are (for better and for worse) so that we can see just where the mercy of God wells up in our own lives. For Christians, it is through Christ, who not only reminds us of our humanity but reveals how God’s mercy has been extended to each of us. It’s by this power that we are free to love unconditionally, to extend grace and compassion. “Compassion” someone once said, “is about noticing the person in front of you before the ideology inside of you. And it’s about making choices to privilege that person.” 2
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- If someone asks you, “tell me about yourself,” what do you say? Do you ever begin with (or include) “I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ?” If not, why not?
- What about someone makes you want to know them better?
- In the next day, turn on a news channel with which you often “disagree.” Listening to the argument, agenda, point of view that may differ from yours, what is your internal response? What would Christ’s response be?
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” —Mother Teresa
PRAYER
Open my eyes to see you, in the mirror, in the friend, in the stranger, in the enemy. Amen.
1 Schreiter, Robert J. “Reconciliation: Mission & Ministry in a Changing Social Order.” (New York: Orbis Books) 1999. p. 36.
2 Hirschfield, Brad. “You Don’t Have to Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism.” (New York: Harmony Books) 2007. p. 30.
The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.