I am reminded of the young man who stopped at a farmhouse asking for work. The farmer asked of his occupation, which was carpentry. At first the farmer said he had no work. Then, pointing across the road to the neighboring farm, he said, “That is where my brother lives and we have become bitter enemies. He even took a bulldozer and cut a stream from the reservoir through the pasture between us. I will hire you to take that lumber by the barn and build an eight-foot-high solid fence between us, so that I do not need to be looking at him.”
The farmer went to town for the day, and the young man went to work. When the farmer returned, instead of a fence, he saw a beautiful bridge across the stream, with handrails and all. At first, he was angry, but then he saw his brother walking down the hill to the bridge with his arms outstretched. As he walked to meet him, his younger brother called out, “You are a special brother, to think that you would build a bridge so that we can get together!” As the carpenter was walking away, the farmer called, “Hey, where are you going?” The man answered, “I’m going to build other bridges!”
Bridges open us up to inviting and strengthening relationships with others. Fences restrict, shut out, and weaken relationships with others. Bridges lead to new vistas, adventures, and unlimited possibilities. Fences isolate and protect stuff with non-disturbing sameness and limited possibilities.
Behavioral studies consistently show that much of human anxiety is caused by an egocentric, neurotic need to have others agree with us. These same studies also tell us that the dynamics of every healthy people grouping, whether it be church, community, or nation, includes lively disagreement.
Furthermore, to presume that others need us to correct them, but that we do not need them to correct us is to assign to ourselves an omniscience that belongs only to Almighty God. The “loyal opposition” is needed to keep us from getting too comfortable with our limiting, narrow, and selfishly blurred visions.
In his book, Life Together, the German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoffer writes about Christian community and warned that “He who can no longer listen to his brother will soon be no longer listening to God, either; he will be doing nothing but prattle in the presence of God too.”
I cannot understand how those who call themselves Christian can hold to a view of community that is more totalitarian than biblical, and fixes its eyes on another with a cold look and says, “If you do not agree with us, get out. Go somewhere else. You do not belong here.”
Such attitudes and actions toward those with whom we disagree never happened when Jesus walked this earth and neither should they happen in His Kingdom-oriented church on this earth. Did not Jesus say that the second greatest commandment is to “Love your neighbor as yourself”?
I urge us all, as the church of Jesus Christ, the family of God on this earth, to repent and seek to build bridges of loving acceptance and respectful listening in our walking together with all people. Let us build bridges, seeking common ground and guidance in making a better world for all its inhabitants.
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – August 3, 2023
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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