Headlines call us to go deeper still

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Our Life Together—What does this mean? is the theme and focus for our upcoming season of ministry in the Rocky Mountain Synod.

Recent headlines have provided us with poignant reminders of why this theme and this question are so important.  What does Our Life Together mean—as fellow members of the church and as the Body of Christ in the world? Especially in light of...

  • the continued evidence of a profound racial divide in our own country, brought to light again by the events in Ferguson, Missouri, and by the hostile reaction of many to the arrival of unaccompanied minors and women from Central America?
  • the entrenched hatred among people living side by side as witnessed by the depth of violence in places like Syria, the Ukraine, and the Holy Land?
  • the panic and fear stirred up by watching the suffering of innocent people and wondering who is next, whether it’s from the rise of a radical movement like ISIS or the outbreak of a deadly disease like Ebola in West Africa?

The truth is that the many questions raised about our life together by “headline events” are actually questions that face us each and every day in our congregations, our local communities and our families.

We are no strangers to turmoil, pain, hatred, and division.  How we treat one another, especially when disagreement or a difference of perspective arises, is telling. The judgment, suspicion, anger, jealousy, fear, or resentment we hold for any other—be it our pastor or a congregant, our parent or sibling, our next-door neighbor, or our local leader—reveals as much, or more, about us than it does about the other person. Which means that if we’re not willing to look within, we’ll never learn how to live well together in wider community.

At the end of the day, our life together is shaped by how we see our neighbor. How we see our neighbor is shaped by how we see ourselves. And how we see ourselves is shaped by our experience of the God we meet in Jesus Christ.

As we explore Our Life Together and what it means, part of our task will be to equip ourselves for the deep work of looking within, opening ourselves more fully to experiencing the grace of God poured into us through the love of Jesus, exploring how God’s compassion for us serves as the very catalyst for our life in community by igniting our own compassion for even the most challenging “other."

I invite you to join me on this journey by sharing your thoughts and experiences about the connection between inner spiritual life and external life in community. What we learn from each other will be a gift to our life together and our witness in the world.

Yours in Faith,
Bishop Jim


Comments

Anonymous said…
Rev. James W. Gonia
As I read your article here and also in the Gazette today, I realize I was blessed to have two former Muslim men and one Missionary to the Muslim's teach me, and a number of others, about the life of Muhammad and the Koran. The two men had accepted Christ a number of years earlier. This ran for about eighteen months. I have continued to study the Muslim ways and what they are doing today and all this has helped me have clear thinking of who these people are and why they do the things they are doing. I am a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, as you are, but I have also studied the other religions of the world and other denominations here in the US.
With this information, I would ask that you study, not just read, the Koran. I agree with you about the teaching of our Bible and I also know that we need to know what the old testament has to say about where the different people of the world have descended from. That takes us back to Geneses and the two sons of Abraham. When we understand this we know that the Muslims can also claim to be descendents of Abraham as they do just that.
Today there are many Muslims that are accepting Jesus Christ in many parts of the world. As we read about what they do to the Christians, it is hard to accept them as a friend but by knowing how they believe and who they follow, we can work to save a lot of them. But we also have to know and tell others what can happen if we are not vigilant.
I think it would be interesting to see what you would write if you had made all this studying that I have talked about.
Thank you for your time

7:50 AM
Anonymous said…
As a member of the staff of the Rocky Mountain Synod Office of the Bishop, I offer this information in response to the earlier comment: Bishop Gonia holds a Master of Theology degree in Islamic Studies from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. --The Rev. Kent Mueller
9:28 AM
Anonymous said…
Lutherans for Israel
twitter.com/lforisrael
Proverbs 26:11
2:23 AM
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