“You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority to pervert justice. You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 23:2, 9
These are interesting words of wisdom from Exodus. Don’t just go along with the crowd, the commentator, the campaign letter. Put yourself in a situation where you can see and hear and speak with your neighbors, the neighbors you avoid as well as the neighbors who think as you do.
What if we engaged in conversation across the lines drawn in the sand? What if we didn’t avoid possible conflict in talking about candidates and important issues with our neighbors, our families, our congregations? What if in these conversations we were less concerned about being right? What if elections were more about communities coming together in all their God-given diversity, around their common interests, for the common good?
This message is excerpted from “May we use our voices” by Joy McDonald Coltvet from the September 2020 Cafe online magazine. Today we commemorate John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, 407.
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