The Meyers-Briggs Personality inventory says that I am an “ENFJ”,
(Extroversion, Intuition, Feeling, Judgement). One of the descriptions of the “ENFJ”
personality type I’ve read suggests that people with this kind of personality
tend to value preserving relationships over being right. Guilty as charged. I do value that characteristic in
myself. It underlies my interests in
mediation, peacemaking, conflict transformation, bridge building between
people, team building, collaboration and many other things. But it also means I tend to avoid
confrontation, am slow to take “positions” on issues (even those I feel
strongly about) and am prone to being indecisive. That’s me.
I share that so you understand how I come at Jesus’ teaching in the “Sermon
on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7).
When I read Jesus’ Sermon, I see the importance of relationships
all over the place. Some, when reading Jesus’ teachings in Matthew
5 throw up their hands and say, “How could anyone be that righteous?!” To which Paul would say, “There is no one who
is righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10)
But, to simply see Jesus’
teaching as impossible tasks meant to shame us into admitting our failure at
meeting God’s expectations, makes it too easy for us to dismiss them as
irrelevant in any practical application.
But, I think there is more going on here than just that (if, in fact,
that is going on at all). Throughout
the Sermon, Jesus is concerned about how we tend to our relationships with one
another and with God. In the Beatitudes
(at the beginning of the Sermon) he calls those who live lives of mercy,
compassion and peacemaking blessed. In
what follows, he shows us just how far we need to go to live lives like that.
It is true, we get angry and have deep disagreements with
one another, we have lustful thoughts, marriages fail, and we make promises we don’t
keep. When those things happen they cause pain,
shatter relationships, and tear at the fabric of human community. As imperfect human beings, and as followers
of Jesus, we need to work hard to address those things that divide us, even
going beyond what the “world” might expect of us. That, I think, is Jesus’ point. Reconciliation, and generosity need to lay
at the heart of the Christian life.
Jesus’ life and ministry shows us how that can be done and
the cost it can exact. Jesus shows us a
God who is always in the mix working reconciliation, forgiveness, mercy and new
life among us. But, even more, Jesus reveals
a God who values relationships so much that God was willing to come and walk with
us through the messiness of human relationships and carry us through to the
other side. In the freedom of that hope and promise, we can
strive to live out of the vision and values for human relationships Jesus lifts
up in the Sermon on the Mount.
Peace,
Bishop Mike
Thank you for reading. Please keep praying for our nation and for
our world.
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