Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way.
I woke up this morning and felt sunshine streaming in on my face. I started to open my eyes and was surprised to see blue sky peaking through our curtains in our bedroom. Over the past few days, it has been pretty gloomy and has rained off and on, and the whole rest of the week is supposed to do the same. I knew immediately that my plans needed to change for the day, given the good weather we were having – because our yard desperately needed mowed. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like our grass grows at 10 times the rate of any of our neighbors. Some sections of our yard were threatening 8-10 inches tall, so I was hoping that our little mower was up to the task. I grabbed a quick cup of coffee, threw some old jeans on and then headed outside to conquer the jungle. Before I even started up the mower I knew I was going to have a difficult time with it today as I studied the yard. Because of the rain we’ve been having, our ground was very soft and muddy and the grass was still very wet. Have you ever tried to cut wet grass before? It is one of the most annoying things to do, especially if you are using a push mower that doesn’t bag what you cut like we have. Our mower just spews it out the side. I started my first line with little to no problems, but by the time I started my third line the mower stalled. It was as I feared – the wet grass, despite being cut, was clumping together underneath the mower and even blocking the exit portal out the side. You see dry grass doesn’t do that – it just spews nicely out the side in a thousand little pieces as you make your passes across the yard. Wet grass is a whole different story. Normally it takes me 2 hours to mow the front and back yard as well as clean up and edge too. Today, it took me 3 hours just to mow without any clean up or edging. The mower kept stalling, and I would have to stop, clean it out, restart the mower, then go another few feet before I had to repeat the process all over again. By the time I had finally finished, I was exhausted, and honestly the yard didn’t look much better. Rather than an even feed of fresh cut grass across the yard, there were massive clumps scattered all over the front and back in different places. It’s actually quite embarrassing when you consider the immaculate yards that our neighbors have, I guess we’re just those people now. At least the extra time it took to mow gave me the chance to go back and listen to some more episodes of one of my favorite podcasts, “Balancing the Christian Life” with Dr. Kenny Embry, an former professor of mine. If you have not subscribed to his podcast yet, I would highly recommend it – especially given the audience that I have I know would be very interested in many of his subject matters. At any rate, the grass is finally cut, and it has given us our topic for today’s episode.
It’s no secret that this past year and a half has been very difficult for most everyone living here in the United States as a result of the Coronavirus. I understand that there are lots of varying opinions about what has happened among believers and non-believers alike, and I’m not here today to share mine necessarily on this podcast. However, what has been difficult to watch is how it has impacted so many different churches across the nation. Perhaps like me, you have been puzzled by the fact that through this pandemic there have been some churches that were greatly affected while others seemed relatively unfazed. I have heard of more than a few churches splitting and dividing over issues such as meeting regulations, mask mandates, etc. How is it that so many churches have split and struggled through it all, while other churches have had no division and no problems at all? After a lot of conversations about this matter with men and women much older and wiser than me, I have come to this conclusion: the problem was never really Coronavirus, but rather it brought out many underlying issues that have existed all along. The testing and trials we have faced have exposed the hearts of Christians for better or for worse, allowing us to see one another’s true colors. Above anything else, I believe that this past year and a half has demonstrated the presence or lack of one thing within our local churches and relationships to one another – and that one thing is love. Consider Colossians 3:12-15, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” And also, Ephesians 4:1-3, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Every single Christian and every single church is going to experience difficulty, hardship, and trials in this life. There are going to be times where we feel like we are being cut down, like we had our legs cut out from under us and the breath knocked out of us. It could be the sudden death of someone we hold dear. It could be sin that has entered the camp and cut many to the heart when they learn what has been done. It could be the stress of trying to navigate a pandemic like we have all had to do. So why have some churches been divided and scattered while others have stayed unified and strong? I believe the answer is very simple: love. Love is the perfect bond of unity that holds us together, and without love we are nothing. No amount of knowledge, no amount of faith, and no amount of talent can replace the great need we have within the body of Christ to bear with one another in love. Without love, there is always division. Without love, there is always strife, biting and devouring one another. But when we truly have love for one another as Christ calls for us to have, we will become like wet grass. Not it won’t stop us from hurting or being cut down at times, no it won’t stop us from feeling like we’ve been tossed about – but it will keep us together. My friends, to stop division in our churches the answer is not about mandates, vaccines, or anything else of that nature – each individual and each local church must make their own decisions as to how they will continue to navigate these hard times that we remain in. To stop division in our churches, the answer is simple but much harder to actually do, we’ve got to start loving one another. No more nasty messages on social media back and forth. No more criticizing and judging one another’s decisions. No more fear mongering or shaming each other. Rather, let there be more prayer for each other. Let there be service to those who are sick or shut in. Let there be submission to those in leadership making difficult decisions. Let there be words that are only fit to build up and edify one another. If we want unity, then let there be love.
Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.