Rejoice
with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in
harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate
with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone
evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. (Romans 12:15-17)
Some folks
like to watch others get their comeuppance. They talk about karma as if they
think it’s a good thing. “Justice,” they say, but more often than not, it’s probably
revenge. They seem to think God gets His kicks out of sending people to hell or
otherwise punishing them. There are some passages that suggest this might be
true but the overall impression of Scripture is that God takes no pleasure in
the death of anyone. Schadenfreude, or joy at the
pain or misfortunate of others, is as bad as causing the pain or misfortune.
Other folks
seem to think that Christians are Stepford wives who talk alike, walk alike, and
like all the same things. If we don’t, they think, we should. There should be
one Church (which there is) and one denomination. Doesn’t the Bible talk about
one Body, one Church, and unity?
Unity is a major subject in Scripture, but the Bible also talks about diversity. The Church
is one body with many parts. The nose doesn’t have the same function as the
toe. If you start studying any subject, you’ll find that it connects to other
subjects that must also be understood in order to get the whole picture. Or, in
the case of today’s passage, it’s needed to get the whole symphony.
Imagine if
there was only one note. Imagine if everyone and everything vibrated at middle C.
There is a term that was invented to describe that: monotone. We get the word
monotonous from it, and that which is monotonous is boring.
There are
other people who would be better suited to writing what I’m about to say,
because they understand music better than I do, but since I’m the only one
here, I’ll try. If you have read my blog for a while, you’ve probably heard me
mention the five love languages: words of affirmation, quality time, giving
gifts, service, and physical touch. In music, a basic chord consists of three
notes, usually notes that skip the intervening steps, as in one, three, and
five. Putting any two of those, or all three together generally has a pleasant
sound to our ears. There are times, however, when different combinations are
used, but that goes beyond my understanding. The point is that the combination
of different notes played together, or different notes before and after a
specific note is what gives the music beauty – what makes it music. It’s called
harmony, and it’s when different notes work well together.
Of course,
some notes don’t play well with others. That’s called disharmony or cacophony.
Today’s passage is a call for us – not to Stepford monotony, but to united,
harmonious diversity. That’s the way we’ll be a symphony.
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