The Other Side

When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left. (Luke 23:33 NLT)

I'm currently reading a book by Lutheran pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber.  Nadia is not your typical pastor. She has bold tattoos up and down her arms. She swears like a sailor.  She doesn't hide her colorful past.  All this has led the more conservative side of the church to take a decided dislike of her and her ministry.  She was scheduled to speak at the ELCA National Youth Gathering last year and the conservatives fought against it.  But she was there... and the youth LOVED her.  Those in the Church who don't like her so much gave her the name, "Pastrix."  This was meant as a derogotory label given by those who don't think women should preach, much less a woman like Nadia.  But she has embraced the term, even using it as the title her book.  All these things make me love her!  She is, more than anything, real.

But this devotion is not about her.  It is about something she wrote about in her book that just grabbed a hold of me when I read it.  Nadia grew up in a fundamentalist church and she saw the hypocricy and the things that were just plain wrong.  Like most of us, when we disagree we the way someone else lives, she drew a line.  They were wrong.  She was right.  We all do it.  And when that line is drawn, it effectively shuts down communication between the two sides.  It makes loving our neighbor next to impossible.

The line from Nadia's book that grabbed me was, "Every time we draw that line, we will know Jesus is standing on the other side."

Where have you drawn your lines?  Rebublican and Democrat?  Gay and straight?  Black and white? Jesus is standing on the other side of that line.  It doesn't even matter if you are right and they are wrong.  That is not the point.  The point is God loves them as much as he loves you, and even if you are right about this, you are wrong about something else.  The only thing we can do is get rid of the line and be children of God together... in all our wrongness and rightness... and even if the other side insists on keeping the line intact.  Then it becomes their line and their challenge to overcome.

Take down a line today.  Even a small one.  It might be between you and a family member or the person who lives next door to you.  It will be easier when you realize that Jesus is standing on the other side.

Jesus,
Help us to remove the lines in our life that we have placed.  Help us to see all our brothers and sisters as just as confused and sometimes right and sometimes wrong as we are.  Help us to see you standing on the other side.  Amen.