Foolish Friction

“He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.” (Pr 11:12 AV)

In other words, despising a neighbor is caused by a lack of wisdom.  In our generation, despising a neighbor is seen as a virtue.  If someone is different or has different beliefs, priorities, culture, etc., the one despising feels justified in his feelings.  It has gotten even more caustic than this.  We are looking for differences for the express purpose of hating.  We are looking for faults before there is hate so that we can feel hate and believe we are justified in doing so.  The concept of neighborliness has long been abandoned.  In our culture, neighborliness can only be attained if one party surrenders to the other.  There is no such thing as neighborliness despite our differences.  We must agree completely and wholely with our neighbor is every aspect of life for there to be any kind of relationship.  Even if it means to violate our conscience or belief system.  Pure neighborliness is an art that is quickly disappearing.

Last week, my wife and I had the privilege of visiting our newest grandchild.  He resides in a state that still understands what neighborliness is.  My son described to me how he and his neighbors will hang out together, sharing a DQ (you would have to have a DQ to understand what that means) and just visit for a bit.  They live in a sleepy little holler with not a lot of options for entertainment or shopping.  Most of their time is spent caring for their homes and visiting with their neighbors.  On one such evening, my wife and I returned from ‘the DQ’ and settled inside the house.  Our extended family was outside.  We hadn’t a clue what happened to them.  Thirty minutes later, my grandson comes inside and informs us our presence is required outside.  There, in the side yard, were three families hanging out with their DQ.  Just talking.  Just visiting.  My son was the odd man out.  He was not from that state.  He didn’t talk like them.  He couldn’t share a culture with them which they had all grown up with.  When I arrived the comparisons became even more obvious.  Yet, these gracious people never made me feel like I was different.  We found common ground and they were genuinely interested in where we were from and what it was like.  Instead of seeing differences, they used those differences as a bridge to build a relationship.  They chose to see what might be construed as a fault as something to explore so they might welcome someone different.

Our nation is falling apart because of the politics of differences.  We are being attacked by forces outside of ourselves to magnify those differences for the purpose of hatred.  We do not have to agree.  We do not have to capitulate.  We do not have to change our customs.  We do not have to acquiesce to blame or charges of which we were never guilty.  What we need to do is show a bit of wisdom.  Just because someone is different does not mean we have the license to hate.  We may be comfortable with and proud of our culture and heritage.  But that does not give us the right to hate someone else because they have a different culture and heritage.  It is time to turn the tables on hatred.  It is time to be neighborly again.  It is time to look past what we might consider a fault and love on others despite our differences.  It is not time to compromise what is right.  If someone’s differences are truly wicked, then we must learn to love them despite their sin and point them to Christ.  If those differences are not wicked by nature, then it is time to let it go!  Wisdom makes neighbors.  Hatred does not.