Lessons from Paul in Engaging the Cultural Wars

The recently concluded election cycle revealed deep seated animosity and hatred along lines of race, social location, and religion.  Paul's words to the Roman church in this week's epistle lesson provides good advice for how the Church should interface with these conflicts

The infant Church in Paul's generation faced similar conflicts along lines of race, social location, and religion.  There was hatred and tension between Jews and Gentiles, exacerbated by underlying cultural differences between the Jewish and Hellenistic worlds.  Paul addresses these conflicts by going back to the underlying purpose of the new covenant community that arose out of the teachings of Christ: that all those who accept Christ as Lord are called to welcome one another and show grace to one another as Christ has shown grace to them in welcoming them into the new covenant community.  As all those who live under the Lordship of Christ live under that Lordship only through grace and mercy, those who do so are called to mirror Christ's mercy in their relationship to those outside the community.

The tensions in our culture are as complicated and deep seated as those in Paul's day.  They are not easily resolved and the answers are elusive.  But we do know where to begin: we begin by mirroring the grace and mercy that Christ has demonstrated to us in our perception and interface with those who we perceive as strangers to us.