By Jay Kieve
CBFSC Coordinator
I suspect we have all heard it said, “Don’t discuss money, politics, or religion in polite company.” It is risky, for sure, to broach topics that impinge on private matters like money or the closely held personal perspectives of politics and religion. But sometimes in relationships, we need to risk important conversations and trust that our affection for one another will overcome the strain. We (me, you, churches, friends, CBFSC) need to talk about all three…
Money first...
because it is the easy one. Thank you. The generosity of you and your churches that is described in our first newsletter of 2021 is amazing.
In the midst of a pandemic, your giving sustained our ministry and blessed our missions partners.
You made it possible for us to support churches as they made difficult, Covid-19-related decisions.
You helped children stay connected to supportive community and maintain their academic progress.
You helped provide quality, affordable housing.
Thank you. The money you have given CBFSC has gone to work in South Carolina as an abiding blessing.
Now politics…
I am heartbroken over the violence that sought to halt the congressional acceptance of our presidential election. Candidates and parties have every right through legally established means to challenge outcomes. But once those avenues are exhausted, as with every U.S. election before, candidates and their followers should accede to the will of the people.
I understand dissatisfaction with political loss, I’ve voted on the losing side more often than the winning one. Raising your voice and working to win next time are the American way, violence is not.
I agree with the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley that the “rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.”1 I am encouraged that people of every political stripe—conservative Republican to liberal Democrat—have decried the violence and called for peace. I’m proud of how you exercise your political intentions with vigor and commitment but without violence.
1 Gen. Mark Milley and the other service chiefs in a letter to military members 1/11/2021. Quoted in time.com accessed 1/14/2021 https://time.com/5929581/security-insider-threat-inauguration/.
Finally, religion…
The greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors (Matthew 22:34-40).
When the Corinthian church struggled with partisan division, the Apostle Paul wrote to them that love would be the measure of their work or else it was all “sounding brass” (1 Cor. 13).
You are faithful in the ways you engage relatives, friends, and even enemies with patience, kindness, politeness, and deference as encouraged by the Apostle.
It is inspiring to see love of God become love expressed to others.
Y’all keep up the great work. Our nation and our world require nothing less than our faithful best.
This article was included in our January 2021 newsletter.