Redeeming Brotherhood

I believe that brotherhood is the way of Jesus.

This is why I’ve been writing about it.

Dozens of Biblical examples lead me to this conclusion, from the moment Jesus said “My mother, brothers and sisters are those who do the will of the Father” to the time He not only healed the woman with the blood disease, but said to her “Daughter, your faith has made you well”.

(I’m writing about all of them in one of my book projects soon to come.)

Technically, I ever so obviously ripped the idea of using “brotherhood” language right off the pages of the Bible. Buttttttt….there are still people in the faith arena who stiffen when I use the term, because–to them–idealizing “brotherhood” is synonymous with signing one’s life over to a kind of unthinking relativism.

If I express a desire to nurture brotherhood with my fellow humans, instead of having faith for the best case scenario (peace or mutual learning or–gasp–spiritual growth), some fear the worst possible result. They worry, for example, that I might also come to believe all people’s opinions are equally true and equally life-giving. That I’ve abandoned all moral absolutes and am in danger of forgetting a Savior presented as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

But when I think about brotherhood it is not an act of walking away from God but walking toward him. Anticipation of what God might do stirs in me…and almost demands to be brought to expression.

I’m only 33. Maybe I will think differently some day. But right now, I feel strongly that we, as people of faith, can do better than filtering relationships in fear and that, instead, we can live in…informed faith.

I think we can love people and seek to understand them without needing to align ourselves with every opinion they hold. That we can disagree, hold different opinions, even appropriately express divergent thoughts, and in most cases, keep on patiently, steadfastly loving.

I would even suggest that this is the more godly, less heretical, Bible-believing, patterning-after-Jesus choice for living in the public sphere than say…refusing to interact with any camp that doesn’t slice up and serve every verse the way you do.

(This topic always gets me in a tangent mood where I feel compelled to point out that Jesus tended to act generously toward society’s outcasts and sinners. Or that it was, in fact, the religious leaders’ arrogance, judgmental attitudes and legalism that usually got Jesus heated.)

Because of the path my life has taken, I’ve developed and still maintain relationships with people in a lot of different camps. I find agreement with all of them in some things, which I express. I find disagreement with some of them in some things, which I also feel free to express. I also find moments of uncertainty, when I can see two or more possible ways of interpreting one Scripture or experience where Scripture is–at least specifically–silent. And I’m all about expressing that honest, unpretending, not-knowing as well.

I have to say that making room for the lives of people in different camps, and being willing to listen to their experiences, has done more to confirm my faith than to shake it.

I should note that the only reason, perhaps, this is true is because the process of befriending diverse people is not a dice roll or a random finger drop in the phone book for me. I have spent a lot of time trying to grasp (even commit to memory) what the Bible says (and what it doesn’t say) and to prayerfully reflect on God’s stirrings in me and my surroundings. It’s created an ease–I guess, maybe, a cleanness of heart, that lets me feel a sisterly love toward a lot of people who are polarized by each other…and still sleep peacefully at night.

As long as I do that, though, my relationships with various groups tend to convince me that God has a bigger picture of brotherhood for this world than most of us are capable of envisioning. And I also become sure that I don’t want to filter my ability to seek a timeless World-Creator God (or His intentions) through any one, narrow lens handed to me by just one individual or their camp.

I want to be open to know God for all He wants to reveal Himself to be in my life. And I want to be open to know and offer love to anyone He brings into my life.

And although I have a deep respect for Christian tradition and many denominations (I attend a Wesleyan church and am moved by their tradition of spiritual growth and care for the poor), I want to always be willing to give Jesus’ way–a way of being criticized for hanging out with sinners, healing on the sabbath and letting the adulteress go free–more of a hearing than I give the expectations of many modern day, often institution-heavy Christian camps.

I want to welcome guidance and feedback, but I want to ask counselors to make sure any cautions they present are God’s cautions–as supported by Scripture, as reasonably aligned with the Spirit present in me–and not just their own fears, defensive posturing, or conditioning being projected on me.

And I want other people to push back on me with the same ask. Help me be clear when I’m talking for Sarah, that I not pressure people like I’m talking for God. The only being’s experience I can speak for, authoratatively, is my own.

I don’t know what that looks like for every person in every situation. But here’s what I do know:

God considers himself the Creator and Father to everyone made in His image.

Jesus’ methods for living and teaching in the public spheres made room for people, rather than drawing lines to keep them out. He called the Samaritan the good neighbor. He challenged his followers to love and pray for our enemies. And He swore He’d scrape through the thicket for one lamb–any one lamb, even the worst, most-divergent thinking and acting lost lamb.

Because of this, I will not turn my back on living as sister to anyone who’ll have me.

And I won’t stop trying to redeem the idea of spiritual brotherhood–peppered throughout the Bible–from politics, religion, activism and fear.  

I hope, for those that makes uncomfortable, that there will be a peaceable moment somewhere in eternity where you are okay–even glad–for those who chose to pursue knowing God even at the expense of the approval of some camps. Choosing God over man, even the ones you respect, after all, is an act of releasing idolatry.

I am still working this out. Still reading my Bible. Still writing and living. But I sense God expects us to approach people and life in faith, which–in my opinion–includes living and pursuing brotherhood for our world.

[Note: I’ve asked before if there is a better term than brotherhood for what I’m describing here. Please feel free to add your thoughts to the discussion.] You can also leave your thoughts on THIS post by clicking on the comment link by the title of this post.