1 Corinthians 13:13 (New King James Version from Biblegateway.com)
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Disclaimer: By nature I have a desire to make sense of things (within reason and within the context and boundaries of my limited earthbound, mortal, chronologically challenged vantage point that is), but first and foremost I consider myself an observer. From time to time patterns of behavior emerge that pique my interest due to their similarity and due to these behaviors falling outside of the context of my neatly packaged perspective. In short patterns that do not make sense to me. Knowing that I am not the gatekeeper of what is reasonable or not reasonable I attempt to look at these behaviors more closely to see if the patterns themselves were misidentified by yours truly (a series of anomalies masquerading as a pattern), whether I have tripped upon some new maxim or paradigm, or a hybrid of a and b. This is not an exact science, but it is convenient in that it requires no sanctioning body, consensus, quorum, or other external vetting process which renders it extremely portable and fluid. Long way of saying this is my opinion and nothing more and that your results (conclusions) may vary. That being said…
Recently a pattern has caught my attention. Mean Christians. It is not a new phenomenon to be sure, but recent observations have brought this oxymoron front and center.
1. Our church recently held a play where the actor playing Jesus dressed up intending to appear as a homeless person asking for help at the beginning of the play. There were many reactions, but two in particular caught my attention as the extremes:
a. One officer of the church engaged in heated fellowship with the actor and demanded they leave the property. I trust their intent was to protect the sanctuary and the saints therein, but the content could be perceived as confrontational or even xenophobic. The main mission of the church is missions work, correct?
b. Another officer asked the actor if they needed something to eat and inquired as to where he would eat that evening and the next morning. I was exempted from this experiment since I was in the cast so I cast no judgment, but I hope and I would like to think I would have reacted this way.
2. I have noticed a pattern where a few Gospel artists or those who make a career related to Gospel music will join a social networking site and then will either:
a. Give public rebukes or edicts pertaining to anyone who apparently approached or contacted them in a manner not meeting their approval or guidelines and other fairly rude behavior. This seems less related to actual success and more tied to personality. Why join a social networking site and then be unsociable? I ask because I honestly do not know the answer. It would seem IM or email could net the same effect.
b. Individuals who are quite friendly, engaging, and helpful including some who have reached a great measure of success. If I am ever blessed with the opportunity to expand my music ministry (or even if I do not) I pray I fall in to this category. What is the point of being in the Gospel music industry if I am going to be rude and callous about it? Seems to be a contradiction.
Again these are merely observations. In keeping with 1 Corinthians 13:13 it is my sincere prayer that we all can stick with option b. It is not always easy, but showing love for one another regardless of what we have or are presently going through in our individual walks will strengthen the body of Christ.
God bless,
Eric
