The Bungee Cord - 9-8-25

Hello,

I was watching the national news tonight, and there was a story about a couple of government officials who got into an argument before a dinner over loyalty, which in and of itself doesn’t seem out of place. But what seemed out of place to me was that the argument grew into shouting, name calling, and threats of “punching you in the face.” Further, someone stepped in between the arguers and told them to take their argument outside. That is when my sense of inappropriateness exploded, because one on of the commentators on the news channel said that such a course of events was what “men do”. He said something to the effect of, “What man wouldn’t take someone who was disloyal outside and settle the dispute with a physical fight.”

If I would have had a direct line into that news program, I would have called in to say that I know a bunch of men who do not solve their intense feelings with physical force. I am one of them, and might I be so bold to say that I am such a one because my life is being shaped and molded by Jesus, the Son of God, who likewise did not settle his arguments of disloyalty by “punching you in the face”.

I know that not a week goes by that I don’t walk into church legitimately accused of being disloyal to Jesus, who by his identity and the Son of God and by his death on the cross for me deserves my complete and faultless loyalty. And yet, when I enter the church I am not told to go back outside where Jesus will pound the disloyalty out of me, but instead I am warmly welcomed into God’s presence, and I am even invited to dine at his table. You see, Jesus doesn’t deal with my disloyalty by taking things outside and “punching me in the face”, instead Jesus wraps his arms around me and says with the power of forgiveness, “I love you.” Jesus doesn’t take things outside and settles things, Jesus in his Supper communes with me, he takes things inside of me and embodies his absolute loyalty to me.

I have been a pastor long enough to have experienced some heated disagreements among parishioners. Sometimes those arguments devolve into shouting and name calling. Sometimes those arguments involve pushing in shoving (although I have never witnessed such, myself). And sometimes, I have heard, that those arguments have become physical in the parking lot. But when these sort of things happen, I say to myself and to those who are involved in such conduct, “That is not what we are about in here!” Such actions are the result of the world’s impact on us, not Jesus’ impact on us.

Following the path of Jesus, I have always tried to have people settle their differences in face to face encounters, with honesty and humility, with confession and forgiveness, and with love and care. Not only do I believe that such a way of dealing with disputes is what Jesus is leading us to do, I believe that doing so accomplishes far more than “punching you in the face.”

So, if you are tired of living in a world where deep and small disagreements are dealt with shouting, name calling, and “punching you in the face”, let me invite you to a world where your failures, your disloyalties, your recklessness, and your painful actions are dealt with by one who loves you with the depth of his own life, one that will embrace you even when you have taken a bath in a cesspool, and one whose loyalty to you is unwavering….the world that gathers in church every Sunday….a world where men and women are being shaped by that one….Jesus, the Son of God.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger