Re:Verse reading–Luke 7:36-50 (day one)
“Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went.”–v 1.
It was a pattern for the Lord. A choice. An example for us. He stayed in contact and conversation with his critics and opponents. Dinners not distance. Opportunities for friendship.
The Pharisees had a different “wisdom”. Their name is derived from a Hebrew word (prs) which means “to separate or detach”. They shunned people who strayed. Disagreement was disloyalty. Their “go to” moral instinct was to get as far away from sin and sinner as possible. (Note the host’s astonishment when Jesus did not apply this “separation policy” to the sinful woman).
But as long as the Pharisee was open to friendship, Jesus was willing to enter in. The same being true for the woman.
Question–how will people believe unless they hear the message? Question 2–how effective will our words be if we are not friends?
Great blog and great questions. It takes character, wisdom, humility, patience, leadership, and self-control to be willing to hear what others have to say on the matters that are not in our comfort zones, or on the reasons of their discontents, or disagreements and to open up the opportunities for face-to-face conversations for gaining better understanding and to build friendships.
I can imagine it would be uncomfortable to spend personal time and to engage in conversations with those we believe our critics and opponents! Human beings don’t like to face with the unexpected and the unknown. We prefer to stay in our comfort zones, in our controlled environments, and not to take unknown risks!
Cultural differences in terms of social norms and religious beliefs maybe perceive as barrier for building effective communications and friendships. However, unless we take the initiative to change our personal perception, reality will set in.
Jesus showed us we could think outside the box and go outside our comfort zones if we want to understand those who maybe very different from us and to build friendships with those to advance the Gospel. How can we build friendships if we keep distant from them? How can we build friendships if we deny to hear and to understand them? How can we build friendships if we don’t take the opportunities they offer to engage in a sincere and honest communications?
Jesus led by example and by inclusion and we can follow His examples in life and at the workplace! Peace and joy cannot come if we practice exclusion. Jesus had so much wisdom as compared to someone at His age range. Take the opportunity when it comes our way.
Great blog and great questions for each of us to examine our own attitudes and behaviors toward those who might be different from us in terms of social norms, religious beliefs, and cultural values. We can make more friends and build a culture of inclusion, love and mercy when we understand others.