I have been so impressed by the quality of response my blogs have generated but one was so good I felt I had to share it with you all. After obtaining permission I am posting this response. He wrote this after having read the post on healing relationships that have been damaged by differing opinions on COVID and the vaccinations. I look forward to seeing your responses to his comments.
Promoting unity and healing from the divisions resulting from COVID is a significant issue and concern for me. I believe all Christians should strive to be healers of divisions within families, the church, small groups, workplaces, etc. And I feel strongly that divisions that have resulted from COVID are unnecessary divisions.
I’m sure you have received many great suggestions with respect to this. However, let me add just my two cents worth ….
If you want to assist your church (our church), your small group, your family, your workplace, etc. to heal from the divisions of the last two years, among many other things, I believe you can assist by doing the following:
1. Check your ego at the door (or the nearest entry to the potential healing process). There can be no healing if someone is interested in “me”, in being right, in proving or demonstrating superiority of knowledge or information or process, or in promoting self. This has to be a selfless act! Check your ego at the door.
2. Admit (both to yourself and to others) that there are rational intelligent people on both sides of the pandemic divide. We may not fully understand or appreciate the other side, but there are good rational people on the other side. The good people are not just on “my” side.
3. Do not debate or argue about which side or approach is right. Listen carefully, discuss very carefully and cautiously, use moderate tones and language, but do not argue! Healing is not about being right.
4. Demonstrate deference and humility in your words and actions. Micah 6:8 calls for us to “… walk humbly with your God.” By extrapolation, I would conclude this also means walking humbly with our fellow man, fellow Christian, brother or sister, friend, and co-worker. In this healing process, there is no room for the impatient or the proud. It won’t happen unless we show and demonstrate personal humility.
5. Support and encourage your fellow church member, co-worker, brother or sister, regardless of which side of the divide he/she falls on. We have a great deal in common. Absolutely refuse to allow COVID to divide you from your loved ones or fellow man.
6. Pray for healing, understanding, wisdom, and harmony with respect to matters related to COVID and the church, your family, your workplace, and your community. Then do all you can to make certain your actions support and are in alignment with your prayer.
Excellent!
When speaking about faith, Jesus said, if you have just a very small amount of faith, just the size of a mustard seed, which is so small, you can barely pick it up. If your faith is only that small, then you can command a mountain to be cast into the sea. So if we as Christians do indeed have faith, then why don t we believe the word of God???? In Psalms 91:10, it reads , No evil shall befall you and no plague shall enter your dwelling. So i say this in view of those who thought taking the shots was an unnecessary act if you have faith to believe you won t get sick. Conversely, others should not have been equally as hesitant to take those shots, for Jesus said in Mark 16:18, if we drink any poison, it shall not harm us. So there are two aspects also to this conversation, both which involve faith and taking the word of God seriously enough to believe it.