2013-08-15          Daniel Daring             2013 articles              2012 articles

 20th Sunday: Decision that leads to division

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53

 (Comments welcome here)

A friend of mine always agrees with the statements of others. If someone says that s/he is ‘pro-life,’ he is ‘pro-life’ as well, but if someone else says s/he considers abortion as a woman’s choice, he is ‘pro-abortion’ too. Recently, somebody mentioned that he was not feeling well and my friend immediately responded with a claim that he also was sick. Since he is an Asian, I usually explain his behavior by referring to Asian values of harmony and relationship: truth is not the most important thing; making others feel good is what counts. Beautiful as it may be, it makes me feel uncomfortable, because it reveals the common thread among many Christians: compromise.  

Easy faith   

Baptized at the age of one month, I grew up as Catholic within a culture that is strongly influenced by the Catholic tradition. I became an agnostic at the age of sixteen, a committed Christian at the age of twenty-four, and then – after seven years of seminary formation – a missionary, eager to go to the ends of the earth in order to share the Gospel. Yet I was never persecuted for my faith, and my commitment to Jesus never caused any division. Perhaps that is good news, yet there is something that disturbs me.

 When my uncle was slowly drinking himself to death, I kept quiet; when my brother was drifting away from the faith, I was told to mind my own business; when the scandal of priests was being exposed, I joined those who tried to excuse them by saying that ‘they are not angels’; and when my boss was humiliating people in my presence, I was unable to stand up for their rights. Such an attitude is strongly encouraged by our contemporary culture: do not rock the boat; keep your faith for yourself; and excuse others ‘shortcomings,’ because nobody is perfect. 

I often think about Jeremiah, who said “cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:5).  And then right at the very moment the soldiers defending Jerusalem from the Babylonian invasion needed encouragement to boost their morale,  Jeremiah proclaimed a message of total discouragement: “This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it” (Jeremiah 38:3). Why didn't he try to be nice and tell them the message they wanted to hear? That would make him likeable in the eyes of the people and spare him imprisonment and future death.

What is wrong with compromise? It erodes the power of our witnessing for God and leads to a state of confusion in which we do not know anymore what we truly believe in. Recently, someone shared this thought with me: ‘for many years I tried my best to be a “good” Christian as my church defines it: dutiful, passive, obedient, and looking up to my leaders to tell me how to think and live my life. Then, one day I looked into the mirror and I did not like what I saw.’  

Making a stand  

“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?” – Jesus asked his disciples (including us). And he himself answered with this bewildering sentence: “No, I tell, but division” (Luke 12:51).

“The call for decision is a call for ‘division’ ” (E. Earle Ellis). It is very difficult to stand for what we believe is right, because it often brings us into conflict with those people we consider important in our lives. Jesus also experienced opposition when he decided to preach the message about the kingdom of God. His family considered him insane (Mark 3:21), the teachers of the law were convinced that he was possessed (Mark 3:22), many disciples left him in the course of his ministry (John 6:60-66), and the leaders of Israel charged him with blasphemy (Mark 14:63-64).

The same fate is instore for those who want to follow Jesus. “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:53). St. Francis of Assisi was cursed by his father, and persecution of people who become Christians is not uncommon in many parts of the world . If we have never experienced opposition because of our faith, then we should evaluate our stand for Jesus and ask ourselves these two questions: Is Jesus the sole principle of our decisions? Are we ready to sacrifice for him everything, including relationships that - although dear to us - compromise our faith?  

Conclusion  

Our faith in Jesus is the greatest gift we have, worth more than all the treasures of the world. We need to cherish and share it with others. It will lead to conflicts and opposition, but we are not called to please people. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). We are called to please God and live for His glory.