Considering what another is going through is simply not natural. What is natural is to shame your opponent in battle so they know they are fully responsible for these problems that separate. If we crush them, they will be easier to defeat. And if we defeat them—of course—we win. We all want to win, and we unfortunately face the attacks of others who also want to win even if it hurts us. Today’s blog post is going to teach you how to win!
"Know Your Enemy"––Sun Tzu, The Art of War
I've truly enjoyed reading so many books and being able to listen to so many audio books from different fields of interest. I've listened this year to books by famed atheists like Richard Dawkins and Friedrich Nietsche, apologists like Watchman Nee and A.W. Tozer, and those I know little about like Kevin DeYoung, Bart D. Ehrman, and Lysa TerKeurst.
So often that's a tall order. We don't want to do that kind of hard work. That takes effort. It takes commitment.
It often takes much more than we're willing to give to those with whom we disagree.
I say "we" because you're just like me. I'm just like you. We are all predisposed to naturally separate from those we don't like.
We do this not because we know our enemy, but because we don't realize our enemy is ourselves.
What Do We Want From Others?
Man... really?
Do I want people to listen to my preaching, wanting to pick apart everything I say? Do I want to have my words dissected till they no longer resemble what I was actually saying? No. I want people to hear what I'm saying and give me the benefit of the doubt if they're inclined to get angry with me. Maybe even come to me with a little kindness and understanding so we can salvage a relationship in the midst of disagreement. Jesus actually had a thing or two to say about this: Treat others the way you want to be treated; Love your enemies, not your friends only; give without thought of repayment.
That's what I want from others. I want people to forgive me. Am I willing to forgive them? I want to be treated with respect and concern. Do I afford others that courtesy? And if not, why not?
I'm guessing you're like me, here. You want grace from others. You want forgiveness.
You want to succeed, to be loved, to be appreciated, to feel like you matter. You are just. Like. Me.
This, especially, hit me like a ton of bricks from T.D. Jakes' interview* with Furtick. So much so I wanted to give you the chance to watch the full thing if you so choose as well. If you do choose to watch it, great. I'd love to hear your thoughts and we can talk back and forth. If not, that's fine too, and I'd be happy to hear your reasons for why you choose not to if you like. But I want to be clear that I'm going to give you the grace even if we disagree, just as I gave it to Jakes and Furtick.**
And I hope you'll extend it to me as well.
13 July 2019 Edit--This article just came out of a Furtick quote with which the Word of God, and I, disagree. To some extent, it’s clickbait and is drawn from a larger message. That message may make sense of what he said, and why. But I don’t know, and I doubt the article writer does either. What I am thankful for is that I’m not well known enough to be so publicly ridiculed and attacked as Furtick is. If I were, I KNOW my comments would be dissected in the same way the Word of God is, constantly taken out of context, and effigies of me publicly burned by the more informed. I still think Furtick does a great deal of damage through what he teaches, but I suspect my energies are better used to pray for him and his church than to use my very limited social media presence to carry out my personal holy war against him.
I’ve got better things to do. I’m guessing you do too.