Friday, June 1, 2018

Fight the exclusivistic tendency


LET’S always remember that even in our best intentions and
efforts, we can still be and do wrong. This can be illustrated in that
gospel episode where an apostle told Christ that they forbade someone
who was driving out demons in Christ’s name because that someone did
not follow them, the apostles. (cfr Mk 9,38)
  
            Christ immediately corrected him. “Do not prevent him,” he
said. “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can
at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for
us.” (Mk 9,39-40)

             Yes, we all have this tendency to be exclusivistic, a part
of our wounded human condition. We tend to judge things using merely
human or worldly standards. Our idea of unity and perfection often
does not coincide with what God has meant for these ideals. We often
mistake uniformity with unity and perfectionism with the perfection
that comes from God and that is proper to us.
  
            Besides, we also tend to stereotype people, to box them
in, practically straitjacketing him as if that person cannot change
for the better. We seldom give others second chances. We end up being
stricter than God who always blends his strictness with mercy.
  
            And again, we also tend to dogmatize what simply are
matters of opinion and personal and class preferences. And so we end
up being unnecessarily divisive among ourselves. This is not to
mention that we often compare ourselves with others, and end up
falling into petty envies, etc.
  
            We need to broaden our mind and perspective, and to be
generous, magnanimous and accommodating in our ways. There are things
that we just have to look past, without getting entangled with them.
Christ himself wants us to love our enemies to the extent that we
offer the other cheek once we get slapped in one cheek.
  
            We should remember that we all belong to the one family of
God, the one people of God. We are all brothers and sisters. We are
obliged to love one another, and we should do it freely, without
feeling forced.
  
            We may have different roles to play, occupy different
positions in society and have different conditions in life, but we all
belong to the one family of God. We ought to do what our circumstances
in life would dictate us, but that should not prevent us from
respecting the others who may be different from us.
  
            In fact, when we are faced with the unavoidable
differences and apparent conflicts among ourselves, we should
immediately try to find ways of how we can relate to the others. Our
immediate thought and reaction should be that these differences are
meant to enrich our life, to broaden our world and to bring us to the
dynamic of complementation and supplementation among ourselves.

             So, we should just be game and sport about this whole
affair. This does not mean that there will be neither difficulties nor
errors that can be committed. That would be naïve to think that way.
We just have to be discerning and consider things again in the
presence of God who is the ultimate arbiter of what right and wrong,
fair and unfair in our concerns.
  
            But whatever it is, we should fight any trace of being
exclusivistic. This is especially relevant to those who are privileged
to have special vocations, charisms and spiritualities in life. Let’s
remember that these privileges are meant for the edification of the
whole Church. They are for the good of all, even if they engage in
some specializations.
  
            These specializations, which should be respected and
promoted, should not blind us from our duty to know how the others are
so that we would know how to work always in tandem with them. Every
trace of exclusivity, no matter how slight, should be removed from our
system.


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