Revolutionary Relationships
November 10, 2020
We are in a tremendously difficult season in our world. The bitter divisiveness in the presidential campaigns and elections has highlighted our general state of mind. And don’t bother blaming one party. There’s plenty of responsibility and guilt to go around. It has been deeply troubling to see the high level officials in our nation on both sides, supposedly in place because of and for great leadership, stoop to behaving and speaking in childish and sinful ways. It’s disheartening and demoralizing.
However, they are behaving in the same ways we do so much across the board in our homes, communities, and work places. We divide ourselves up into “teams” and prejudge, criticize, condescend, and destroy in order to “best” them or have our own way. James said it. That self-centered desire is at the root of all our fights and quarrels (James 4:1-3). It ruins marriages, friendships, churches—it has caused the tense and volatile culture in which we live. It is at the root of the racism we deny. It is the hatred we tolerate towards people who are different from us. Yet we excuse our behavior by calling the differences their “sin.” It’s the disrespect we allow to grow in our families that causes brokenness for generations.
You know this. I know this. Yet we tolerate it. God gave many of the Psalms to David to speak lyrically to us in places our defenses won’t allow us to face and hear. He still does that. Some of the most penetrating and helpful correction God has ever given me have come from the inspired music of his people. The words to this song by Josh Wilson are so powerfully convicting and helpful. Our team sang it Sunday morning. I want to give you and I another chance to hear God speak to us through this song again. Listen to it here. If one by one we would correct our wrongs and begin to live in this revolutionary way, we would affect the kind of change that Jesus commanded as he told us our number one responsibility is to love others as he has loved us:
Maybe you're not like me
Maybe we don't agree
Maybe that doesn't mean
We gotta be enemies
Maybe we just get brave
Take a big leap of faith
Call a truce so me and you
Can find a better way
Let's take some time, open our eyes, look and listen, yeah
And we're gonna find we're more alike than we are different, yeah
Why does kindness seem revolutionary
When did we let hate get so ordinary
Let's turn it around, flip the script
Judge slow, love quick
God help us get revolutionary
Whoa oh
Revolutionary
Whoa oh
Let's get, let's get
Whoa oh
Revolutionary
Whoa oh
I'm turning the TV down
Drowning their voices out
'Cause I believe that you and me
Can find some common ground
See maybe I'm not like you
But I'll walk a mile in your shoes
If it means I might see
The world the way you do
Let's take some time, open our eyes, look and listen
And we're gonna find we're more alike than we are different
Why does kindness seem revolutionary
When did we let hate get so ordinary
Let's turn it around, flip the script
Judge slow, love quick
God help us get revolutionary
Whoa oh
Revolutionary
Whoa oh
Let's get, let's get
Whoa oh
Revolutionary
Whoa oh
What would Jesus do
He would love first
He would love first, hmm
What would Jesus do
He would love first
Yeah, He would love first
So we should love first
Why does kindness seem revolutionary
When did we let hate get so ordinary
Let's turn it around, flip the script
Judge slow, love quick
God help us get revolutionary
Whoa oh
Revolutionary
Whoa oh
Let's get, let's get
Whoa oh
Revolutionary
God help us get revolutionary
Songwriters: Josh Wilson / Jason Mater / James Tealy / Steve Fee