Tried With Fire

"They will know we are Christians by our love" doesn't seem to apply to social media these days. Rather "They will know we are Christians by how tenaciously we hold to our opinions and our unwillingness to listen to anyone who differs from us." If I was a sociologist, I would be collecting data for a book on this phenomena. But I am not, so I read what other people have researched to gain better insight. Here are a few excerpts from Disunity in Christ that may shed some light on why we circle the wagons. This is worth considering and may help us be more understanding and gracious toward one another. If we understand the world around us, we have a far greater chance of controlling it. Even if we can't control our world, understanding can help us make informed choices about what to do next... We have a strong need to know and a strong need to eliminate uncertainty... 1 Because we're uncomfortable with ambiguity, if we can find a concept to help us...

I have been reading Unashamed by Heather Nelson with a group of women in the church. The last chapter we covered was on social shame. If you've never experienced it, please tell me, what is it like to not be socially awkward? For the rest of us, we know that sinking feeling of wondering how  and even if we fit in. Thoughts go through our heads such as - "I don't know what to say. I don't know who to talk to. Will I be accepted?" It's especially hard when it is a group where there should be strong sense of belonging such as the church. During our discussion, I threw out the question of whether men or women were more accepting of differences. There was no hesitation. The unanimous answer was "Men." Very interesting. I had suspected this as well, but I still wanted to understand the "why" behind it. So I started reading  Disunity in Christ . The author, Christena Cleveland, has a PhD in social psychology, so her book draws from research...