Dan Berry – January 28, 2021
Over the last several years, thanks to social media, we have discovered that just about everybody has an opinion that they can’t wait to share.
Most believe that their opinions have validity — myself included! Ha! 😜
Something that I have learned over my journey is that just because an opinion has validity, or threads of truth in it, doesn’t mean it’s going to help anyone.
If your motivation is to be impressive, to be right about something, in other words to make it all about you, it won’t help anyone.
Scripture writer, Paul was one of the most opinionated, outspoken humans to ever pen his beliefs. Regardless of what you think about him, I have to say that something he said in 1 Corinthians 13 has grasped my attention.
13 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
1 Corinthians 13 NLT
There was a time when I held my spirituality in high regard. Basically, I thought I had a lot of things figured out. Can you hear the gong? Understanding that I might not be the only one who has fallen into that trap, I ask you to consider the motivation behind what you say and do.
So many people are looking for help, grasping for truth and understanding. Let’s make sure that we don’t take advantage of their vulnerabilities by making it about us.
Let’s let love — a love born out of God for people — be our motivation to help and to serve.
We hear a lot about fact checking these days, but I challenge you to check not only your facts, but your motivation behind everything you say and write. Let love rule.
All of us at Brownicity are grateful for your hearts and are honored to serve alongside of you. Love never fails.
Dan Berry is the author of Navigating Diversity In Our Most Segregated Hour, a Certified Instructor for the What LIES Between Us and What Does It Mean to Be White courses, and advises individuals and organizations on how to take first steps toward racial healing.
He has pastored for forty years in Iowa. After pastoring in predominantly white spaces for several years, he began to realize the need to bring about racial healing in the body of Christ. For the last 30 years he has worked to bridge ethnic and cultural divides, a work that has led him into confronting the churches complicity in upholding systems of racism.
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