More wisdom from Graham Cooke,
Remember also, there is a huge difference between truth and perspective. Truth is a Person. His name is Jesus. Truth is what God says in Scripture. Everything else is perspective. In emotional difficulties, no one tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Our version of events is shaped by how we feel and their effect on our life. Our thought processes can be influenced by a number of things, such as our general disappointment and our particular reading of events. We do not have access to how other people felt or how their mind was working at the time that something happened. What they thought they said, what they actually said, what they really meant by it, how we heard them say it, and what effect it had on us are probably all going to be wildly different. That's perspective!
We will never get to a place of total truth, because the event will mean different things to different people. If everyone were to examine themselves thoroughly instead of each other, if we had a real desire to win one another's hearts, we would stand a good chance of not separating over general issues (see Matthew 18:15-17).
Relational difficulties in most cases cannot be resolved, only harmonized. Harmony is the simultaneous combination of several tones blended together in relationship. Tones that are opposites, or that are running parallel but not together, can be blended with other tones that are mutually relational to both to create a common sound - a harmony.
In relational difficulties, we find just such a disparate grouping. There are people on opposite sides of the fence to us; people on parallel lines with us but still with a slightly different track; and people who agree that both sides have something to say and that they can see the truth in both. Tension is one of the ingredients of relating in depth. There is no movement without tension.
Church is a people paradox. Relationships in church (or any people group for that matter) are about holding different personalities, ministries, visions, and perspectives in tension with one another. Tension does not mean there is something wrong; it means there is something happening! We do not want to have the Frank Sinatra style of relating together: Do it my way or take the highway.
If you look at the Gospel accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus, you have four versions. Each account is complete, yet incomplete. That's the paradox. We don't use them against one another to contradict one another. We agree where we can, and we celebrate the different nuances of each author. The point is that all the Gospels agree on the main elements of the Kingdom message. That's what we look for, that's our harmony; everything else is a bonus.
We will probably have to agree to disagree over some issues and come to a place of broad agreement over the central issues without compromising ourselves.
From “A Divine Confrontation” by Graham Cooke
We will never get to a place of total truth, because the event will mean different things to different people. If everyone were to examine themselves thoroughly instead of each other, if we had a real desire to win one another's hearts, we would stand a good chance of not separating over general issues (see Matthew 18:15-17).
Relational difficulties in most cases cannot be resolved, only harmonized. Harmony is the simultaneous combination of several tones blended together in relationship. Tones that are opposites, or that are running parallel but not together, can be blended with other tones that are mutually relational to both to create a common sound - a harmony.
In relational difficulties, we find just such a disparate grouping. There are people on opposite sides of the fence to us; people on parallel lines with us but still with a slightly different track; and people who agree that both sides have something to say and that they can see the truth in both. Tension is one of the ingredients of relating in depth. There is no movement without tension.
Church is a people paradox. Relationships in church (or any people group for that matter) are about holding different personalities, ministries, visions, and perspectives in tension with one another. Tension does not mean there is something wrong; it means there is something happening! We do not want to have the Frank Sinatra style of relating together: Do it my way or take the highway.
If you look at the Gospel accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus, you have four versions. Each account is complete, yet incomplete. That's the paradox. We don't use them against one another to contradict one another. We agree where we can, and we celebrate the different nuances of each author. The point is that all the Gospels agree on the main elements of the Kingdom message. That's what we look for, that's our harmony; everything else is a bonus.
We will probably have to agree to disagree over some issues and come to a place of broad agreement over the central issues without compromising ourselves.
From “A Divine Confrontation” by Graham Cooke
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