Holy Spirit, please make us Longsuffering!

Division in the church is always a concern for pastors. Often times we focus on big things, important things like doctrine and practice. True unity can't be achieved without unity of doctrine and practice. These things truly do matter.

But often, too often, disunity comes about because of much smaller things. 

The old standard example is disunity and division over the color of the carpet. The carpet example is an old trope that is used to show how something so mundane can become a point of division in a congregation. 

How can such a small thing become an issue that brings terrible division?

Pride. 

Ascribing malice to the actions of others. 

Failure to communicate with others, but "knowing" what they are thinking. 

Anger. 

Resentment. 

These feelings, these actions, can be stirred up by perfectly innocuous events. 

For instance:

Person A on the drive home from church: "Nobody even approached me to have a conversation at church today."
Person B also driving home from church: "I'm not really comfortable approaching people when they're wearing a mask. I figure they probably don't want me to get too close to them, so I tend to keep my distance."

Now person B was absolutely not intending any harm to person A, in fact person B was trying to be considerate. But person A took it as person B being uncaring and cold. 

Another example:

Person A walking into church thinking: "I'm running so late! I have a million things to do. How in the world am I going to get everything done."

Person B greets person A, but barely gets a response. Person B thinks, "He doesn't even care that I'm here."

Another example:

Person A thinks: "I wish someone would invite me over for coffee or lunch sometime."

Person B thinks: "I wish someone would invite me over for coffee or lunch sometime."

But neither person A nor person B takes the initiative to invite the other over. Both feel hurt, division and disunity find a foothold, and in pride neither ever will invite the other because they are both waiting for an invitation. 

I could go on and on and on.

After this past year in which some division has been inflicted upon us by forces beyond our control, it is more important than ever that each and every Christian be willing to work to re-engage one another and that, as the catechism instructs, we "explain everything in the kindest way." How many of the issues above could be completely resolved by simply following the 8th Commandment?

But let us be patient with one another too.

Recently I heard a podcast in which a woman, who had been held in solitary confinement for week, we released into the general population of a prison. She said that it was overwhelming. Even though she had ached for contact with others, she had to reacclimate herself to being with others and it took time to adjust again. 

The temptation is to withdraw from others. The temptation is to self-isolate. But instead let us pour ourselves into others. Let us re-engage one another in small ways at first, but small things will lead to big things. Let us love as we have been loved. 

Covid has disrupted our natural social interactions. Be patient with each other as we reacclimate to life together. Be forgiving of one another as we navigate things together. Be considerate of each other and explain everything in the kindest way so that unity, not division, can prevail. 

Let us pray for the fruit of the Spirit to be abundant in us. In Galatians 5 we are told that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control." Patience, which the King James Version translates as "longsuffering" is fruit the church desperately needs today.

May the Spirit make us patient, longsuffering, with one another and bring about even more good fruit by which we, our fellow members, and the world around us can be blessed.