Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 63; 149, Song of Solomon 5:10-16; 7:1-2 (3-5) 6-7a (9); 8:6-7, 2 Corinthians 13:1-13, Luke 20:1-8

Paul’s relationship with the church in Corinth was a rocky one. In his letter known as 2 Corinthians, Paul encourages and scolds, loves and mocks, thanks and threatens, delights and defends. Naturally written from his perspective, this epistle still includes clues about his contributions to the friction. Yet in conclusion, Paul writes with all sincerity: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

How often do we hear such words spoken today between opposing interests? To the contrary, traditional and social media by design encourage not reconcilation across disagreements but confirmation of our existing beliefs and biases. We can find television networks that tell us what we want to hear and marginalize those who disagree. The feeds of most popular social media sites follow algorithms engineered to categorize us into ever narrower groups for marketing; the intention may not be to divide us, but division is at the least a problematic side effect.

Paul had many disagreements with members of the Corinthian church, including their lack of basic respect for him. Yet he remained committed to them as fellow Christians bound in common faith and community. He understood that neither the things that deserved his praise nor those that needed correction completely defined them. Paul remained engaged with them in an honest and loving way, though he knew not all of them were presently willing to return the favor. He had enough faith to believe his persistent love would lead to reconciliation, and enough wisdom to know that wouldn’t necessarily mean complete agreement.

How willing are we to engage with people who disagree with us – religiously, politically, culturally, etc – not to argue or defeat, but to actually interact with them as human beings instead of representations of a particular category? Paul could easily have left the Corinthians to the care of those he called “Super Apostles” (akin to today’s televangelists), but then everyone except those willing to exploit division would have lost. People can’t see us for who we truly are until we show up.

Comfort: God does not see us as labels.

Challenge: We should not see each other that way either.

Prayer: Gracious God, source of all love, teach me to love all your children, as they are my brothers and sisters. Amen.

Discussion: Is there any category of people you dismiss out of hand?

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