Once upon a time, which is how all good stories must start, I was a (very) young and (very) new follower of Christ with the highest of ideals and the grandest of visions of life and of serving in the Kingdom with my gifts. I would be a storyteller—a bold voice for the voiceless, helping the world to hear. I would stand before nations proclaiming freedom to the captive, healing to the brokenhearted, bread to the hungry. Perhaps I would write novels that seared the hearts of men and opened their eyes to injustice and pain.
In simpler words, I went to law school to be a lawyer in international human rights. And I did work in that field for a short while. But life shifted and new plans were made. I still sought God’s guidance as I wondered about my gifts. I still expected a flamboyant revelation and a starring role on the international stage.
In the meantime, I watched our world unravel just a little. I saw debate turn to division, disagreement turn to disdain. People stopped hearing one another. They huddled closely with their carefully selected teams and hurled words of contempt at “the other.” Peacebuilding grew into an industry, teaching “How to Talk to _____.” More people began to proclaim the need for “civility” and more definitions of the word flew about. But our culture, our communities, continued to unravel.
I strained to see where we were going wrong. I could see my children censoring their words in front of others, worried about not only giving offense, but of being “othered” if they voiced the wrong opinion, whether too “liberal” or too “conservative” or too Christian or not Christian enough. Failing to lead in healing this division, the Church somehow contributed. How do we find our way back from this chasm of discord? I wrote Restoration Glass to try to mark a pathway back from the brink.
Turns out, we really don’t need anything new. Scripture already provides a map. We just need to learn how to live it—and to live it out loud in our very unsettled world.
Romans 12 is one place to find our way:
“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil… Be kindly affectionate… serving the Lord…given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep…Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil…live peaceably with all men…if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink…"
It isn’t an easy list. Not even easy to desire. Impossible, really, unless we pray for the strength and the grace to do so. (Let’s face it, few of us, in our own feeble humanity, can truly live peaceably with all men and bring ourselves to feed our enemies… We cannot do it without Christ!)
Imagine a community in which we love unabashedly, extend hospitality freely, with vulnerability and trust. Imagine we welcome, truly welcome, the other.
We are told to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, bodies, and minds. True hospitality requires open hearts and open minds, a willingness to meet others where they are and to hear their stories. To share our own stories. To stand on the common ground of the Imago Dei and seek Truth, not to prove our own position or disparage that of the other, but together to seek the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. We might not find it together. We might end a meal or a meeting no closer to agreement than before. But if we met there on that sacred common ground, we can leave reconciled. We can leave knowing we have a partner in problem solving, in civility, and in seeking Truth. We won’t solve them all, but we will create a world in which solutions are possible. We will create a community that seeks to love fully and well.
All well and good, one might respond, but where does that leave us in a world in which social media outbursts substitute for well-reasoned arguments and even the Church now seems more like ChurchES than one Body? When both sides declare they stand on the Rock in proclaiming their position—yet the positions are opposing and neither will give ground? Not only that, but they declare that the other stands in opposition to God. How do we reconcile? How do we reconcile when your politics appear to say more about your character than your actual beliefs? Can merely “being hospitable” bridge that divide?
Yes. Simply yes. Not right away. Not easily. But it is the only thing that can. If we want to see the Church as One Body, to be free to share our opinions and to hear others, to solve problems of racism, hunger, immigration, national defense—we must stand as followers of Christ in extending His great grace to the world. Ask questions and really want to hear the answers. Then, ponder those answers and look for seeds of Truth. Be, as James says, “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” (James 1:19)
Greet your neighbors, your colleagues—and your enemies—as children of God. Share a meal with someone whose every opinion stands in opposition to your own.
Gathering together in our little huddles dims the Light of Christ. Our like-minded tribe becomes a bushel basket hiding that Light from the world.
Is it scary to step out and extend a hand, a listening ear, to the other? Absolutely. Is it scary to take that hand and begin to share your story? Certainly. Remember “perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18) So, think of how you can stand with Love Himself, and in His mercy, shed the light of grace in a world that is dark with fear and anger and hate. And the light will shine in the darkness and the darkness WILL NOT overcome it.
* To order Restoration Glass from Amazon, click here. To order from Barnes & Noble, click here.
Kimberly Hart
As one of the first in her extended family to attend college, Kimberly studied Brain and Cognitive Science at MIT before getting her JD from Columbia University School of Law. Passionate about the intersection of justice and mercy, Kimberly worked on lobbying and advocacy on human rights, peace-building, and humanitarian need for multiple international NGOs.
Kimberly appreciates the need for a welcoming space, good food and drink, connecting stories, and thoughtful, challenging dialogue. She makes her home on 62 acres of a historic farm in central Maryland in an old house with wonderfully wavy glass windowpanes. She lives with her gentleman farmer husband, four strong-willed, strong-minded, and creative kids, one co-dependent rescue dog who thinks she’s much smaller than she is, one very cat-like adopted cat, two fainting goats who were supposed to be livestock-not-pets, plus her mother and her outlaw barn cat. Fairlight Farm is also the host to the Fairlight Forum, dedicated to creating space to hear and be heard.
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