I have been seeing quite a few Facebook posts lately that begin with, “If you voted for _____, go ahead and unfriend me.” or “If you believe ______, I don’t know how you can call yourself a Christian and you should just unfollow me.”
What follows are often harsh and demeaning categorizations of people based on one choice. I wonder if we were to find out that a friend had made that choice, would we be able to so easily say those words to her face?
This categorization of people has created a society that is divisive and given satan quite a bit of ammunition. So, since it appears that many are drawing some lines in the sand, I want to share my stance as well.
To all of my friends who are maskers – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that you have done your research and educated yourself on the mask issue and are making the absolute best decision for your family. I don’t believe that you are a blind follower or that you are leading us towards the loss of our constitutional rights.
To all of my friends who are not maskers – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that you have done your research and educated yourself on the mask issue and are making the absolute best decision for your family. I don’t believe that you are selfish, unloving or lacking compassion for others.
To all of my friends who vote Democrat – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that you have done your research and educated yourself about each of the candidates in order to vote for the person who will lead our country and make the best decisions for our people.
To all of my friends who vote Republican – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that you have done your research and educated yourself about each of the candidates in order to vote for the person who will lead our country and make the best decisions for our people.
To all of my friends who vote Libertarian – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that you have done your research and educated yourself about each of the candidates in order to vote for the person who will lead our country and make the best decisions for our people.
To all of my friends who are actively supporting Black Lives Matter – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that you are striving to make our world a better place for everyone.
To all of my friends who are actively supporting All Lives Matter – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that you are striving to make our world a better place for everyone.
To all of my friends who are against reopening schools – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that the safety of the staff and students is important to you.
To all of my friends who are ready to reopen schools – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that the safety of the staff and students is important to you.
To all of my friends who have chosen to keep silent on social media – I adore you. I believe with all of my heart that you are educating yourself and making the best decisions for you and your family. I don’t believe that your silence is anything more than a preference to not engage in a war that has no winners.
Despite what I am reading on social media, none of the above mentioned issues are salvation issues. I can be a Christian who wears a mask or a Christian who doesn’t. I can be a Christian who votes Democrat or Republican. I can be a Christian and support Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter. I can be a Christian and be opposed to reopening schools or for the reopening of schools. None of these are salvation issues.
We have lost sight of the eternal perspective.
First and foremost, I am a Christian. All of the other decisions I make are based on scripture and honoring God. All of the above groups or organizations are imperfect because they all involve humans. Each group or organization is going to have people in their ranks that make mistakes. Because they are human.
None of the above is a Christian based organization. Each of the above listed groups does include Christians who are desperately trying to honor God with their choices. While I may make a different choice, I will not judge their Christianity based on their choices. Because none of the above listed issues will have any effect on my salvation.
Instead, I choose grace.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Our Savior became flesh and came to this earth. He sat with His disciples around a table just hours before He was betrayed. The very man who betrayed Him sat among them. Judas sat at the table and ate too. Christ showed grace.
If Christ could sit at a table with a man who chose to betray Him and send Him to the cross, I can show grace to those around me whose choices are different from mine. I can believe that their experiences, their circumstances are different from mine and have led them to a different choice.
I have chosen to follow Christ. I have chosen to take Him on in baptism. I have chosen to deny self and live for Him.
To my Christian friends – I adore you. I depend on you to hold me accountable when my words and actions do not line up with my faith.
To my friends who choose not to follow Christ – I adore you. I depend on you to hold me accountable when my words and actions do not line up with my faith.
I beg you, before you click that button to post something, think about what you are posting. Is it encouraging or does it categorize? Is it uplifting or is it belittling? Even if you don’t agree with the choice that someone else has made, can you believe that they are truly doing the best they can with their circumstances and their experiences. Can we be more like Christ and show grace?
With Eyes on the Cross 