In a post, last week, I mentioned that the Lord had been impressing on me that it was time to find another pathway of life ( a third pathway) through the increasingly complicated maze of our culture here in America. I sensed, during that time, that if Christians were to remain Christian, in the days ahead, we were going to have to withdraw from the world’s way of doing things and embrace a new way…which I guess is really an old way we have neglected for a bit.

you may remember we started here: FULL POST HERE

So let’s begin at the beginning. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO STAND WITH SOMEBODY?

Well, here is what AI suggested as a definition of “stand with”- To “stand with” somebody means to publicly support, align with, or show solidarity with a person, group, or cause, often during times of conflict, difficulty, or in a shared, unified effort.

We’ll get to what it means to be underserved tomorrow but let’s talk about:

Public support– For me this means to love people unashamedly and to publicly build relationships with people… By love I mean….Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails.  1 Cor. 13:4-8

Align with- To me this means finding the spaces of community cooperation with people I do not see eye to eye with. Alignment is not, in my mind, perfect agreement but cooperation on values we do agree with.

Show solidarity– I had to look up a definition here. Solidarity is unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

Again this is not about perfect agreement but about finding those things we can agree on to build our communities together. I hate to keep talking about the absence of perfect agreement, but I realize that in our Christian communities we have embraced an unwillingness to work with people unless they agree with every one of our doctrines and ideals of personal holiness. This has to change if we are to become effective parts of our communities again and if we are to gain a voice at the community table. This is not about compromising what we believe or our identity in Christ. It is about us learning how to live out our identities peacefully in a world that does not understand or agree with them.

This does not mean I am going to join in every project our community puts forth. It means I am going to be an active part of my diverse community and work with the underserved just like Jesus did. He wasn’t in perfect agreement with the people of his community. He still worked within the community. He attended weddings and parties and synagogues. He went to the Temple as required. He walked among the underserved of His day with love. He conversed with zealots and tax collectors and Pharisees and Saducees and Essenes and Centurions and prostitutes alike. He helped. He healed. He argued sometimes. He taught gently at others. Sometimes he flipped tables, but he stayed. He worked.

That’s at least a part of the Third Pathway.

WHAT ELSE COMES TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU HERE THE WORDS STAND WITH.