Be Nice….

 

Be nice! Last night at our Thursday Night Discipleship group I asked the question, “Who are your enemies?” It was interesting that most people really have a hard time naming an enemy. That is really good news. I pressed the question, “Who do you avoid?” People we avoid are just a step away from being enemies. In our society right now, we might not label people our enemies, but we sure act like they are. Just take a scan of facebook posts and you will see that we treat people horribly. If we disagree someone, whether we admit it or not, we treat them as enemies?

James chapter four is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. There is so much practical wisdom within those 17 verses. If I had to choose a favorite passage from this chapter this is it:

“What is causing quarrels among you? Don’t they come from evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong — you want only what will give you pleasure.” (James 4:1-3)

Wars and quarrels start from the inside and work their way to the surface. Jealousy, envy, and selfishness are the garden for hate, quarrels, and fights. We need to root out the selfish desires within our heart and substitute those desires for “things from above.” 

Republicans and Democrats, for all practical purposes, hate each other. (I know this is a broad statement, I use it to make a point.) The way they treat each other is horrible. The anger, the hate, usually comes from one party being in control over another party. In effect, the one side of the aisle wants something the other side has. Jealousy, envy, and coveting power, leads to fights and quarrels. It leads to division and strife. The leaders of our country, instead of taking the high road and clearing up the rhetoric, they join in with a louder call to actively and/or violently resist. I know I see it now from the Democrats because of who is in power. But, the Republicans were no better just a few short months ago. 

Both sides believe they are 100% justified in their actions. Both sides have their supporters and both sides have extremists that take the fighting and quarreling to a new level. 

We claim we have no enemies, but if this is how we treat someone who it NOT an enemy, I cringe at how we would treat someone we consider our REAL enemy. 

I have a novel idea! Let’s just start by being nice to each other. Then maybe we can take the next step found in Matthew 5:44….

 “…love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

At the very least, we could pray for our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, or disagree with us, or hate us, or live differently than we do, or ….. Maybe we can even go to the next step where we actually sit down and listen to those we disagree with… 

Ok, maybe we could just be nice!