The Friendship Factor

How have your relationships been this last year and a half? Have you felt tensions because of the circumstances in Alberta and the rest of the world? When was the last time you had a conversation with a friend where you disagreed on vaccinations, restrictions, politics, ethics etc.? How did it go? What did it make you feel? We’ve seen polarization cause relational tension in close friend circles in the past few years that I personally have never experienced. It’s affected all of us. And to be honest, I’ve seen this tension handled really terribly.

As the church, we are called to an ethic of love that counters society’s ethic. Where personalities are cancelled over old tweets and pro mask or anti-vax stances and voices are muted in the comment section because they disagree with us, we are called to sit in these places of tension and love those who disagree with us. Romans gives us a great road map to that. This weekend we’re engaging in this heavier subject matter with the hope of seeing our community become increasingly more compelling by the love of Christ that a broken world and in places, a broken church, desperately needs.

Pastor Andrew