Hi everyone,

I recently got into a debate of sorts (don’t worry, it was civil and not at all heated) with a colleague of mine, and off the bat I was unsure of where they thought I stood in the issue. What the actual issue was is inconsequential for this example, but what struck me was throughout this entire civil and not at all heated debate of sorts, it was more and more clear that they and I didn’t believe in the same thing.

In that, they described a belief/stand point that I didn’t hold either.

At the same time, they held a belief/stand point that I also didn’t agree with, but their rationale for believing it, was because they so strongly didn’t believe in the original point (you know, the one that I didn’t believe in either). So as clear as this is, my point is that there are more than two standpoints. There are more than two polarizing opinions. There are more than only two ways to see that proverbial coin.

Too often I see the “if you’re not this, then you’re this” and “if you don’t think this, then you must be this” and of course “if you aren’t for us, then you are against us.”

But that’s not always the case. In fact, I might even argue that it very much is not the case. But somehow, the world seems to operate like it does. I think we need more room for grace, mercy, and understanding

Here are the readings for next week:
Amos 8:4-7
Psalm 113
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Luke 16:1-13
And a video of them being read:

You know, it was always hard for me to understand this parable that Jesus is telling us in these readings. It all sounds so corrupt and wrong. I mean, it’s commonly known as the parable of the shrewd manager, after all. It’s just that I never thought that Jesus would be on board with it.

But actually? The text doesn’t really say that he is.

In fact, I think Jesus is not believing in the same things that we don’t believe in, like how ripping people off isn’t a cool thing to do. But what is cool is that the manager in the parable has decided to put an end to his cheating. Sure, it took him losing his job for him to figure it out, but at least he finally did.

So I don’t think Jesus was commending the manager in ripping off his boss, but commending him for looking at himself and deciding that he doesn’t want to be like his boss anymore and stopping ripping off others. And then I think the boss recognised the good deed of the manager and decided to keep him on the payroll anyway.

Sometimes, just because we don’t see things the same, it doesn’t mean that we could never get along. It just means that we have to learn that there could be more than two ways of seeing it. I’m just thankful that God’s grace is big enough to cover us when we get it wrong… and we will get it wrong. We just need to admit it when we do, and acknowledge that God is with us to bring us back.

Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!