Points from the Pastor's Pen

Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8

        Pastor Ronnie Floyd shares the following thoughts about how Christ-followers should respond to the hatred and political strife our nation is experiencing.

“So how do we move forward from here?

I believe there’s now one- and only one- way forward for America: we must pray earnestly for unity and work intentionally toward reconciliation.

It’s incumbent upon the church of Jesus Christ to be a force of unity , love and civility both within and without. Jesus appealed to us that we are to be distinguished from others by one thing alone: our love. “Love one another, just as I have loved you, he instructed his disciples (John 13:34).

In fact, Jesus took it a step further and taught us that we ought to love and pray for not only those who agree with us but also those who oppose us. He put it this way: ‘If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?’, and ‘If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?’ Matthew 5:46-47 NLT

But it has to start with us, the followers of Jesus Christ. The fellowship within each of our churches and our fellowship together as Christ-followers needs to be one that binds us together in love and unity.

This does not grant us a permission slip for moral compromise or an excuse for not standing strongly for our convictions. We have these and should have these even in this turbulent moment in history. But, in the following days and weeks, as tensions will continue to flare up across America, our greatest force needs to be constancy of Christ's love in and through us.

And remember: It is never enough just to do the right thing, but we must do the right thing in the right way.

If we want to see unity in America, we cannot only talk about it. We have to live it out- in our workplaces, our churches, our homes and in our own relationships. A divided church cannot call a divided nation to unity.”

        Pastor Floyd has said it well. So I’m asking everyone who reads these words to pray for and choose to love all our leaders and to stop our part in the hateful comments that should never have been said. Ask God to show you how you can love someone who is politically opposed to you.

Your Pastor and Friend,

Joel