Luke 8:18 says, “Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”
James 1:26- “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.”
According to legend, in 1325, a huge conflict erupted when soldiers from the town of Modena stole an oak bucket from the nearby rival town of Bologna. The thieves mockingly displayed the bucket for all to see. Outraged the Bolognese army marched to Modena to recover the bucket and their pride. Then the Modenese refused to give back the bucket, the Bolognese declared war. It is said that 30,000 men, 2000 knights and Pope John XXII joined the chase to get the bucket. On November 15 there was a battled and despite being outnumbered 5:1 the Modenese routed the army and in turn pursued the Bolognese to their city walls where they flaunted the victory. In total 4000 men died that day. All over a bucket.
I wonder sometimes, if we are believers don’t get in to “bucket wars” with non-believers because they have offended us by saying something about “evangelicals, Christians or religious people.” I am not sure that a battle of words really makes that much difference in the grand scheme of things. The FB wars, we see sometimes serve no purpose but to defend our pride and honor but in the process we may lose thousands over something we simply just need to let go. I think sometimes, we “evangelicals” get offended when that term is used in a derogatory way but sometimes, we earn that reputation of being hostile, obstinate, arrogant and haughty. Maybe we should consider how we listen rather than how we defend. Maybe listening to what is behind the attacks would give us insight rather than just raise our level of anger and frustration.” Sometimes seeing the pain behind the words would change the whole interaction. Rather than immediately defending, we should consider starting with “I can see someone of faith has hurt you, I am sorry that happened.” That simple recognition could change us all. Have a great week.
Much love
Preach
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