Willingness and Honesty

My thoughts have been consumed the last few days with the idea of willingness. At a meeting recently regarding "equity" in the sense of treating all people equally within institutions, someone suggested that the worst problems in the world could be cured by willingness. As scripture describes, we live in a fallen world that will continue to sin and suffer the consequences until its end, but it's interesting to think about what would change if people became more willing. If I were more willing to let go of my own plans, what could I accomplish? Even if people were more willing to talk– to speak their minds with a willingness to LISTEN to what others have to say. Willingness to accept differences, to look past differences, and sometimes to embrace differences.

Speaking of willingness, I realized after chewing on the idea for a few days that I have been unwilling to work out differences between myself and several people that I used to consider good friends. I continue to judge these people for actions in the past and ones that I have only heard rumored in some cases. Instead of handling these problems with prayer and direct communication, I have chosen to avoid the problems all together by simply not communicating. Then I looked at myself and recognized that, in holding something against these former friends, I am doing precisely what I am disgusted to see them doing! How can I possibly judge their sins when I am sinning by holding grudges against my brothers and sisters in Christ? God asks us for honesty, and willingness to forgive– neither of which I have exhibited in these relationships.  This is exactly why I have stayed away from churches! People just like myself! In talking with my mom about problems seen within the church, we discussed how Christians see themselves sometimes as better-than-human, and judge fellow Christians for wandering off the path. In the same way, non-Christians often see the church as being corrupt because they expect it to be better than human. But the reality is, even though Christians are transformed, they are still HUMAN. And humans are imperfect and make mistakes. The difference should be that those who have been changed should recognize their mistakes and ask forgiveness and make things right with those they have wronged, including God. So my goal for this week is to be WILLING to listen to God's direction, to act upon His words, and to get uncomfortable if necessary, in order to make things right.

James 4:12"...But you- who are you to judge your neighbor?"