Can’t We Get Along?

 

 

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. John 15:18

“Why is it so hard to get along?”

I have heard this question posed twice recently. The first time it was asked seriously in a post where the writer was reacting to the killings in Oregon, apparently committed against Christians, because they were Christians.

Because We’re Christians

There is a simple answer to her question. “It is hard to get along because we are Christians.”

Really. I know it sounds ridiculous. As Christians we should love everyone and show kindness in every circumstance. We are to take off “anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from our lips.” (Colossians 3:8) We are to “put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:13-14).

When we obey God’s commands, people hate us.

Love Is…

Love is not always the warm, fuzzy kind that the world would like us to show. True, Christian love, speaks the truth. It calls sin, sin. It is salt and light in a tasteless and dark world. When Christians live according to God’s Word, we become a mirror. In comparison, unbelievers see that their way is the wrong way. They hate that, and so they hate us.

The second time I heard a form of this this question was in church. “Why can’t we all just get along?” asked to make the point that it is not something that, as Christians, we should expect at this time.

Jesus warned us that we should expect to be opposed and hated. It happened to Him and to His disciples. Everywhere they went some believed, and some opposed. In the end His opposition crucified Him because of His righteousness. They hated that He was sinless and that others believed and followed Him as the Son of God, Messiah.

In Luke 21:17, Jesus warns us to expect the same, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.”

So, if the Lord does not do a work in the heart of a person to help them see the Truth that the Christian speaks, we will not get along. There will be some who pretend to agree when we are face to face, but like the Pharisees, plot our death when they are behind closed doors. As more and more situations like the one in Oregon happen, we need to admit that we will not get along with everyone, but must remain true to the important One.

Good News

The good news is that God is changing hearts all the time. He often uses us to speak His Truth. Romans 10:14 says, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

We will only know the ones we will not get along with from the ones we will get along with by speaking the truth, all the time.

“Why is it so hard to get along?” The simpler answer than my first one is, because Jesus Christ is Lord.