Why can’t we just get along

As we begin a new year, hopeful for a better year than 2020, I am concerned about the way many people treat each other and relate to each other. I tilted this after a quote from Rodney King who was a Black man beaten by the Los Angeles police around May of 1992. So here we are, 28 years later, and things are not getting better.

I am suggesting we use Matthew 18:15-17 as a model to resolve our differences. It is as follows:

“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church: and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be as a Gentile or a tax collector”

I suggest if you have conflict with someone please take the time to LISTEN to their point of view. Please do this in person or over a phone and not through email, text, Facebook, etc., because tone is often lost when using those means of communication. If you do not come to an agreement on the topic, that is alright. We do not need to be in agreement on all the numerous topics and subjects in the world.

What I am asking, is that we be respectful of others opinions. It does not mean we need to agree, but respectful. I heard the late Bishop Michael Conyer say at a meeting, “it is alright to say I was wrong”. He was discussing coming to a meeting with a preconceived idea of what was right or what was wrong. Once he listened, he changed his position on the topic. It is alright to have a change of heart on a subject.

Blessings,

Pastor Ed Armantrout