Understanding? Part I ...

Monday, August 15, 2011. We have to talk about understanding. Sorry to push this topic in rather directly. But it is an important topic for our communities. It is important on a national level as well as in our local churches and even in the rather private environment of a cell group!

Experiences with a different background …

Every human has a different background. Some of us have lived here, others there. Some have been at one town all of their life. Others had to move from a village to a mega city. Some moved from the city to the suburb. Experiences are different!

How can we understand each other. More and more I realize how important this point is. There are those who have business experience. They know how to run a business, how to survive in the jungle. Others have been public employees for all of their life. They had different experiences, but important insight into duties which are carried out with responsibility to the general public. Can the business world understand the world of state institutions and vice versa? Or are they just too different?

In our churches there are similar questions. Some have studied theology. They know all the questions which have been discussed througout the past 150 years of Christianity. They know all the criticism, all the difficult viewpoints. Others have never moved into this realm, and they don't want to go there. How to understand each other? It is quite a challenge. Then there are those who are just simple believers. They just want to live in faith and be supported.

What does Jesus say? …

What does Jesus say? He knew the difficulties, so many different nationalities have been part of his crows of followers. He put love into the first place. He asked everyone to forgive! That is needed, since a different background also means, usually, that you do not know what the others think or need. You draw conclusions which are not right. There are many parts of human communication which can go wrong.

There are further commands. Put the other person into the first place. That could be difficult. Does it mean to always give in? Not really. It can mean to fight, to fight for good solutions which really help. Do not run away, just start a sincere conversation. Talk and listen.

When we want to understand each other, we need to put time and effort into it. We need to listen. We need to talk. We need to spend time with the other person. And we need to let things go - first of all our opinion that only we are right. There could be a truth beyond all our individual opinions. Let us look for this truth jointly. Together we will be strong! ... more texts