Compassion and Understanding
Colossians 3:12,13 God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So your new life should be like this: Show mercy to others. Be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Don’t be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you.
Over the years, nationalism – which at its heart is really tribalism – has caused more trouble, more pain, more wars, and more death than any of us can wrap our minds around. Why is that?
Today is the national day of two very different countries: India as they celebrate Republic Day, the day when they became a sovereign, democratic nation throwing off the shackles of British colonial rule, and Australia, as we celebrate the beginning of our modern nation with the landing of white British settlers at Sydney Cove.
Two very different celebrations – and in Australia at least, that sets us up for conflict with many calling for this Australia Day to be abolished because of how badly the white settlers treated the first nations people over many years.
Man, what do you do with that? And it’s not a conflict unique to Australia. It’s one experienced many times over in different ways around the globe. So the question remains … what in the blazes do we do with that? Because if you look hard enough, you can see the argument from both sides.
Colossians 3:12,13 God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So your new life should be like this: Show mercy to others. Be kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Don’t be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you.
Mercy, humility, compassion, understanding, forgiveness – wherever national or other tribal identities clash … that’s God’s answer. That’s what you and I are called to be and to do in this era of identity politics.
Mercy, humility, compassion, understanding, forgiveness.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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