Fruit

The devotional I was reading yesterday (by K.J. West) said:

The fruit (singular) of the Spirit that Paul mentions is a communal gift, and only God can give the growth needed for this fruit -- by way of the life-giving energy of the Spirit.  Paul says that a church being led by the Spirit will be marked by the presence of these gifts.  

Hmmm.  A church being led by the Spirit will be marked by the presence of these gifts.  That makes sense.  Is the opposite true?  Does the absence of these gifts mark a church that has wavered from its purpose?  That is not following the leading of the Spirit?

When division and disunity prevail, and there is no kindness, no compassion, no patience, is that a symptom that should tell us more than the idea that everyone is not getting along?  When hatred and distrust prevail, even when those involved feel a sense of righteousness, is that a warning?

Can we, as church communities, work through our differences while also following God?  Of course we can, but it's harder.  It means that  love prevails, and we have to be intentional about it.  It means we must continue to focus on the idea that the person in front of us, with whom we disagree, is a child of God.  The person is still a person you love, and not an object.  (Sounds like The Anatomy of Peace.)

How do we see each other?

I'm reading a book called The Anatomy of Peace; Resolving the Heart of Conflict.  I'm a member of our Annual Conference's Covenant Council, and we've been asked to read this book in preparation for an upcoming meeting.  To be honest, I wouldn't have chosen this book to read on my own, but as I read it this morning, the following thoughts came to mind.

The authors say:

The deepest way in which we are right or wrong...is in our way of being with toward others.  I can be irght on the surface -- in my behavior or positions -- while being entrely mistaken beneath, in my way of being.

To have a heart at peace, and to resolve conflict, one must see the other person as a person, rather than as an object.  Think about that for a minute, as I did.  When you are in a situation of conflict, do you see the other person as an enemy, or as a person?   Doesn't it seem like the most important goal, when you are in conflict, is to win?  To prove the other person wrong?

What if it didn't matter as much who was right or wrong, but instead what was really important was how we respond to each other?  What would happen?

Perhaps this is the meaning of Christ's words -- love one another.  See each other as persons. 

(Easy for me to say.....)