If you know me personally or have spent any time with my blog, you know that I write from a Christian worldview. Here is a blog that I recently wrote for one of my courses which asked me to state how I lived out my faith. Enjoy.
A few weeks ago I was having coffee with one of my daughters and we got on the topic of some of the current events that have recently gotten the Christian community up in arms, and for some, readying for a fight. She was wrestling with how to think, feel and respond and she wanted my opinion. It’s always a wonderful thing when one of your grown children is interested in what you think because you remember those years when you felt that they thought you were the stupidest person on the planet, but that’s a different topic! For the moment, we’ll just enjoy that she asked what I thought about it all. She wasn’t asking about the issues, for she knows pretty much where I stand on things, but she wanted to know how I planned to handle it when someone asked me what I would do about standing up for the cause of Jesus in a secular context.
I explained that while I fully understand those who are currently sharpening their swords and feel that they must take a stand for their moral standards, biblical mandates, and foundational spiritual convictions in their neighborhoods, national politics, and their workplace, I choose to take a different tact. It’s not that I don’t lean toward agreeing with them on basic issues, but instead of feeling called to be a zealous warrior, as some are, I strongly believe that I am called, rather, to love. Don’t misunderstand, I desire to influence those with whom I disagree just as much as the warriors, but in some cases, I believe that I will be more effective by showing Christ’s love instead of God’s wrath. Judging is His job; loving is mine.
As a follower of Christ, my call is to treat others as Christ would treat them.[1] Jesus tells the story of gathering the “sheep and the goats” (Matthew 25:35-36) when he lists various things the righteous have done for Him. The hearers basically say, “When did we do all that?” and Jesus makes the point, “What you did for the least of these, you did for me” (v. 40). This principle, also the basis of the golden rule: “As you wish others would do to you, do so to them” (Luke 6:31), is the “gist of faith in God,”[2] open-minded, generous, absent of accounting, and at its heart, is trust and friendship.[3] It is our expression of what Liu calls the “significant extension and perfect manifestation of our love of God[4] and what Dupuis calls “the reality of our salvation.”[5] How we treat others is a direct reflection of our faith in and love for God.[6]
Luke 6 warns us strongly that if we judge others, we, too, will be judged. So, I will heed the warning, and while others rattle sabers, I will seek to influence others by loving first as Christ has loved me and let God take care of the rest.
The main point for me is that as a leader, I want to influence others by living a life that first and foremost loves. That’s how I want to be remembered.
Lead well.
Endnotes
[1] Troftgruben, T. M. (2013). Lessons for teaching from the teacher: Matthew’s Jesus on teaching and leading today. Currents in Theology and Mission, 40(6), 387-398.
[2] Park, E. C. (2009). A soteriological reading of the great commandment pericope in Matthew 22:34-40. Biblical Research, 54, 61-78.
[3] Kirk, A. (2003). ‘Love your enemies,’ the Golden Rule, and ancient reciprocity (Luke 6:27-35). Journal of Biblical Literature, 122(4), 667-686.
[4] Liu, Q. (2007). On a paradox of Christian love. Journal of Religious Ethics, 35(4), 681-694.
[5] Dupuis, J. (1985). The practice of agape is the reality of salvation. International Review of Mission, 74(296), 472-477.
[6] Fedler, K. D. (2006). Exploring Christian ethics: Biblical foundations for morality. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.