More Than Ever, the World Needs a Bridge Builder
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. ”
Polarization. Fear. Violence. Confusion. Hatred. Offense. Our world is plagued by such maladies. It’s natural to watch what is going on in the world around us and feel more than a little unsettled. Everything inside us screams, “This isn’t the way it should be!” And this is undeniably true.
It would be infinitely more concerning if we looked at this broken world and felt right at home. You and I weren’t made for this world. We were made for another. And we weren’t made for fear. We were made for love. This tension often feels unbearable. We may even long for another home, another country to call our own.
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.” What is this “other country” of which Lewis writes? In the Chronicles of Narnia, it is known as Aslan’s Country.
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lucy Penvensie asks the great Lion, Aslan:
“Oh, Aslan, will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?"
Aslan responds:
"I shall be telling you all the time. But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder.”
Indeed. The bridge across the great divide has already been built. We are not left without a way to enter this other country. In our world, Jesus himself is The Way. He is both the bridge builder and the bridge into his Father’s kingdom. And he is always revealing more and more of this path to us.
The Apostle Paul calls this path the most excellent way. (1 Cor 12:31) It is the Way of Love—the only way to enter the Kingdom of God. And it stands in stark contrast to the ways of the world.
The tension we feel right now is God’s way of reminding us that the ways of the world are not his way, and they should not be our way. Polarization and confusion, fear and violence—these have no part in God’s kingdom.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
When we see these things at work, we can know that God is at work, fulfilling his promise of redemption. The fruit of the Spirit is the defining characteristic of the Kingdom of God. It is one package deal all bound together in love. If you don’t have love, you don’t have the rest of it either. No peace. No joy. No kindness. No gentleness.
Without love it all breaks down. Why? Because without love fear always enters into the equation. You see, the Bridge Builder is not only making a way to his Kingdom, he is building Kingdom bridges between his children. These are bridges of unity, undergirded by his love.
When love breaks down, the bridge begins to crumble. We are left feeling insecure and disconnected. In this state, fear enters into our hearts. Fear is the root of a great many evils—control, manipulation, greed, jealousy, domination. The list is long.
If you look around you, you’ll see it everywhere. Families torn apart by abuse. Nations at war. Churches wracked by scandal. Institutions that prey upon the weak and vulnerable. It’s easy to become cynical in the face of such affliction. But there is a better way, a better perspective, a better hope.
Jesus knew we would struggle to love one another. In John 17, Jesus prayed for each of us—that we all would be one, as he and the Father are one. (v.21) That prayer is a part of the bridge building he still does for us today, if we’ll let him.
We must humble ourselves to admit that no one Christian denomination has all the answers. No single political party gets it all right. No earthly nation can become some sort of utopian answer to all our problems. No individual human has an entirely correct philosophy or theology, worthy of blind allegiance. We aren’t God. We never will be. And it’s best to keep our hearts and minds humble and teachable.
I sometimes fear that I sound like a broken record that keeps skipping back to that one tune about love. But honestly, it is the only song that matters. The only song that never gets old. The only song we will sing for eternity.
As Paul so aptly wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Cor 13:1)
Let us not be clanging cymbals!
‘Sometimes healing comes by waving the white flag of surrender when everyone else is telling you to stay in the fight.’
