Compromising on moral issues such as these make a mockery of God’s holiness-a holiness that defines how Christians are to live. Other churches are dividing over issues such as human sexuality or abortion. That could be a good place to bend for the preservation of unity.
Learning how to differentiate between them requires discernment-a discernment that comes from the One who created and sustains us and freely gives wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5).Ĭhurches have come close to splitting over the color of the carpet or the type of worship music (hymns or praise choruses). Others are a matter of conviction that touch the heart of our values and beliefs. Some disagreements are not worth digging in our heels to take a stand. “Choose your battles.” It was good advice years ago and it’s still good advice today. If confrontation is destroying relationships, is bending always the preferred response? Perhaps the bigger question is, why are we bending? Are we motivated by humility and respect? Or are we motivated by a people-pleasing mentality? Do we speak the truth in love or are we ashamed of our convictions? Are we afraid to be called names because we are ashamed to be identified with the One whose name we bear: Christ? Or with coworkers, neighbors, and even in our immediate families, we dance around these topics in the hopes of salvaging what’s left of fragile relationships bent to the point of breaking.Īre you feeling the squeeze? Wondering if you’ll break because you can’t bend anymore? We can be so confrontational that long-term relationships are seemingly broken beyond repair. Politics, injustices, pandemics, vaccines. How low can we bend before we break? How low should we bend before we break? Sound familiar? Some days, it feels as if life requires us to bend lower and lower to pass under the bar of our circumstances.
All the while, observers chanted, “How low can you go?” Only the most limber dancers were able to bend their bodies until it was impossible to squeeze through the narrow space between the bar and the ground. With the bar lowered after each round, the pass became more and more difficult. Dancers attempted to pass under a horizontal bar without touching it. Limbo dancing enjoyed popularity sixty years ago. But in life? These days life is feeling more and more like a giant limbo dance.