Becoming a Bridge Builder

On Sunday mornings I have been talking about becoming a bridge builder. It is one of those sermon series that has gained a lot of attention in the church, which I pastor.  I think it is struck a chord with several, and for good reason.  For we live in a world that wants to build walls and not build bridges.

What I find in the Scriptures is that the apostle Paul was an incredible bridge builder.  Again and again he sought to bring reconciliation between people and the Lord vertically, and between people horizontally with one another.

I think the principle of Scripture teaches us that it is downright impossible to be right with God and not right with one another.  Yet so many live their lives using and then abusing relationships within family, society, and even the church.

I have long been told and read about the way we step on one another on the corporate ladder, however no one seems to address how we step on one another inside the church.  It is a taboo subject.  I guess we think if we stick our heads in the sand just go away.  I'm here to remind you that it won't.  We must address it, and to address it we must acknowledge it, and to acknowledge it we must be honest about it.

Yesterday, I talked about becoming a bridge builder.  And then last night I opened up the church floor to questions and answers, comments and insights that people had.   It was a very interesting and rewarding time. One of the questions that came up went something like this:  What happens when you identify two individuals who both love the Lord, but do not love one another, and what happens when you try to build a bridge between them and they do not walk across?

I tried my best on the spot to answer that question.  My answer was something to this effect:  First, we need to certainly bathe the situation in prayer, prior, during and after.  Beyond that I emphasized that we need to let God be God.  Meaning, we cannot force people to reconcile.  If you remember the book of Philemon, Paul was pretty clear:

v8-9 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do,  yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—

Paul could have been forceful demanding from the law reconciliation be accomplished, but rather Paul was pleading on the basis of love.  That is how we should be as well.  There are times in our lives when it seems as if the relationship has no hope, we must be consistent and faithful to take that relationship to the Lord and allow him to rebuild it, renew it and restore it. 

One of the things that I did not mention that I thought about after we closed the service was this:  We should make every effort to be very careful that if we cannot pick the fruit we do not bruise the fruit.

God wants us to be fruitful in our faith, walk and witness.  Part of being fruitful in this journey is being wise as we deal with one another.  Wise enough to know that if someone is not ready we cannot force them.  We cannot force them into the kingdom, and we cannot force them into reconciliation. 

But at any given moment it is possible to bruise those in which we seek to win over.   That is where a wise ambassador knows when and where to advocate for what is true, pure and holy.  A wise advocate also understands that God might use someone else to bring about the reconciliation that we so worked for and pray for. 

If those you love are not ready to accept the invite to walk across the bridge than keep living your faith in steadfast devotion and keep living for another opportunity to share later.

I end with this thought:  We should also live with an expectation that GOD WILL WORK!  Too many times we live our lives in the negative not the positive and we wrongly assume redemption is not possible.  As followers of Christ, we should live with an expectation that He not only can work in every situation but that He wants to.