{"id":2688,"date":"2023-06-08T07:44:45","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T11:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2688"},"modified":"2023-06-08T07:45:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T11:45:51","slug":"disagreeing-agreeably","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/08\/disagreeing-agreeably\/","title":{"rendered":"Disagreeing Agreeably"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>.

Yes, Presbyterians (who occasionally refer to themselves as God\u2019s Frozen Chosen) actually do show emotion from time to time.

In his book Jesus Outside the Lines<\/em>, Scott Sauls recalls the time when theologian R.C. Sproul was the guest presenter at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville. 

Sproul was famous for his fierce advocacy of \u201csovereign grace\u201d \u2013 the perspective that God sustains absolute control over every molecule in the universe.  Does that leave any room for human freedom?  Billy Graham certainly thought so.  The 20th<\/sup> century\u2019s most celebrated evangelist never wavered in his insistence on free will.

During the question and answer time following the presentation, someone in the crowd went right for the jugular: \u201cDr. Sproul, will you see Billy Graham in heaven?\u201d  Sproul responded, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t believe I will see Billy Graham in heaven.\u201d

A collective gasp went up from the crowd \u2013 evidence that Presbyterian blood pressure does go up every now and then.

Sproul continued, \u201cBilly Graham will be so close to the throne of God, and I will be so far away, that I will be lucky even to get a glimpse of him.\u201d   

Now, that\u2019s how wise people navigate an intramural debate like sovereign grace vs. free will.  We may disagree with sisters and brothers about matters of immense importance, but generous doses of humor and humility remind us that we have far more in common with each other than doctrinal sticking points that occasionally threaten to divide us into warring camps.    

Disagreements are inevitable.  But we must agree to disagree agreeably. <\/em>

That was central to the prayer that Jesus prayed for all of his followers the night before he died:

\u201cMy prayer is not for them alone [that is, his original 12 disciples].  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father\u2026 that they may be one as we are one \u2013 I in them and you in me \u2013 so that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me\u201d (John 17:20-21, 23). 

The watching world is still waiting to see if we can somehow display the kind of unity that would represent an answer to Jesus\u2019 prayer. 

To put it more simply:  By God\u2019s grace, can we all get along<\/em>?

Those five words, spoken by a Black man named Rodney King on May 1, 1992, are often used glibly these days to generate a laugh.  But their original context was painful.  King had almost been beaten to death a year earlier by four white policemen in Los Angeles.  Someone videoed the incident from a nearby balcony and then released the tape to national news organizations.  The cops ultimately went to trial, charged with excessive force.  When an all-white jury failed to convict them of what most people regarded as police brutality, Los Angeles exploded.

Over the course of six days of rioting and chaos, 63 people were killed and almost 2,400 others were injured.  More than 7,000 buildings were set ablaze.  Media helicopters hovered over the streets, providing live coverage of violent assaults.

That\u2019s when Rodney King appeared before TV cameras to appeal for peace.  Surrounded by reporters, stumbling over his words, fighting back tears, he said, \u201cI just want to say \u2013 you know \u2013 can we, can we get along?  Can we, can we get along?\u201d  Those are the words that everyone remembers. 

But King went on.  He ultimately answered his own question.  \u201cWe all can get along.  We just gotta.  We gotta.  I mean, we\u2019re all stuck here for a while.  Let\u2019s, you know, let\u2019s try to work it out.\u201d

We live at a time when more people than ever are asking Rodney King\u2019s question.  Cooperation across Congressional party lines has disintegrated.  School board meetings dissolve into shouting matches.  Over-zealous parents storm athletic fields to protest controversial calls.  And entirely new denominations seem to spring up overnight when followers of Jesus fail to resolve their differences over everything from Sunday School curricula to the amount of water in the baptismal fount.

Christians are known to throw up their hands and declare, \u201cGod will settle everything in the next world\u201d \u2013 which is really a thinly-veiled way of saying, \u201cJust wait until God shows you how wrong you have always been.\u201d 

But Rodney had it right: We\u2019re all stuck here for a while.  And the Jesus-following life is definitely one that calls us to do everything we can to find our way forward together<\/em> \u2013 right here and right now.  \u201cIf it is possible,\u201d Paul writes in Romans 12:18, \u201cas far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.\u201d 

How can that ever happen? 

It always comes down to love.<\/em>

We will inevitably experience disagreements.  Disagreeing with someone, in fact, can be a sign of respect \u2013 an indication that we care enough about that person to engage their opinions.  Author Vince Vitale then adds, \u201cWhat we need is not the end to disagreement, but the reality of a love big enough to inspire us to disagree without devaluing.\u201d

We may not always agree about everything.  But we can agree to love and value each other along the way.

And if you don\u2019t agree with that, you can take it up with me in heaven.

You\u2019ll find me in the \u201ccheap seats\u201d with some of the other Presbyterians just beyond the horizon from God\u2019s throne of grace. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Yes, Presbyterians (who occasionally refer to themselves as God\u2019s Frozen Chosen) actually do show emotion from time to time. In his book Jesus Outside the Lines, Scott Sauls recalls the time when theologian R.C. Sproul was the guest presenter at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville.  Sproul was famous for his fierce… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[603],"class_list":["post-2688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-disagreeing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2688"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2691,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688\/revisions\/2691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}