September 21, 2016
When we were kids we used to play a game in school called
Red Rover. If you’re unfamiliar with the game, it goes something like this:
Two teams hold hands, line up across from each other, and
take turns calling members of the other team to try and run over and break
through their line. If the called person is successful, they take someone back
with them. If not, they join the line they couldn’t break, until one of the
teams has no more members.
As I listened to news reports about renewed racial tension
and violence over the past couple of days, I was reminded of that game. It may
sound simplistic… heck, maybe even a little crazy… but I think it’s time for
Christians to start approaching these issues like a game of Red Rover.
We who have received the Grace of Christ need to join hands
with our brothers and sisters, no matter their skin tone, and stand firm as
opposition rushes toward us looking to break through the lines. As we hold
tightly to our neighbors’ hands and rely on shared strength, we also have the
opportunity to “capture” more and more souls; bringing them into relationship
with Grace’s team, thereby making it stronger. And yes, sometimes that is a
literal need, not just metaphorical.
Just think about it… instead of being confronted by police
with riot gear and teargas, what if rioters were SURROUNDED by everyday
citizens with only their brother or sister’s hand in theirs?
Greeted with a song of Grace rather than threat of violence? Rather than escalating the situation, it diffuses it. Men and women may be kept from more exposure to danger. Yeah, I know. It’s a notion that sounds absurd on the surface. And I would never try to make it sound like it will be easy, because it won’t be. Peace and His way never are. There will be those who may break through here and there. However the beauty is that we aren’t alone in any of it. Look to your left and to your right. Now look up. In these relationships, with and through Christ, we have everything we need to hold the line without violence, and even in spite of it.
Greeted with a song of Grace rather than threat of violence? Rather than escalating the situation, it diffuses it. Men and women may be kept from more exposure to danger. Yeah, I know. It’s a notion that sounds absurd on the surface. And I would never try to make it sound like it will be easy, because it won’t be. Peace and His way never are. There will be those who may break through here and there. However the beauty is that we aren’t alone in any of it. Look to your left and to your right. Now look up. In these relationships, with and through Christ, we have everything we need to hold the line without violence, and even in spite of it.
For too long we’ve been content to sit by and say “someone
should do something about this.” When the reality is that it is OUR job, OUR
commission, OUR directive, OUR response to a Savior who called us from the
opposing team and then didn’t let us slip by Him. I can almost hear the angel
choir singing (to paraphrase the game), “Red River, Red River, let peace come
on over.”
But then, what do I know? I’m just a guy who wasn’t strong
enough to break the bonds of sin and death on my own anyway. Thankfully I know
this guy…
Love in Christ always,
Chris
Romans 8: 35-37
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it
is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted
as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us.
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