Thoughts On Raccoon Theology… Hello Hump Day Readers. I can almost hear you laughing at this rather absurd title for a devotion, but bear me out because it really is something we all need to learn, take to heart and put it into practice. (*No real raccoon needed!) I have all kinds of stories from all over and I keep them categorized for all kinds of topics, teaching, devotions, etc. I was searching for something about ‘unity’ because I find that word dwindling away in our society. This funny story was the perfect example…here goes!

A man and his wife were walking through a park in Miami one afternoon when they saw a Cuban family enjoying a picnic. The family was tossing scraps of bread to a raccoon and saying repeatedly, “Oye, chico, ven aca” (which is ‘Come here, boy’ in English). The man thought for a moment and laughed. He confessed to his wife that his first reaction was, “That’s silly. Raccoons don’t speak Spanish!” She quickly replied: “Well this is America. If the raccoon doesn’t want to speak English then he can go to Cuba instead. No more bread scraps for him!”

We can chuckle at the story but I think you already get the deeper part of it—our nature is to see the world through our own experiences, our own languages, our own background. We easily carry and spout our own assumptions for ‘how the world should work’.

In our society we see daily reminders of well-meaning people from different backgrounds telling someone else they are wrong just because of: color, religion, language, sexual preferences, the clothes they wear, etc. We have our assumptions and they have theirs. How can we stop such assumptions and just embrace a person for who they are?

In the Apostle Paul’s letter in 1 Corinthians 1:11-13 [MSG] he writes:

“I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.” I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?”

The problem with this not-so-good-theology is that, like a worm, it bores its way into conversations, breaks up families and worse—it creates disunity in our churches! People from different ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds come together with their own ideas of how Christianity should work. But the truth is—these ideas are just that, ideas! Why? They are preferences based on their own life experiences rather than based on how God wants us to treat one another.

To have unity in our own life, our family, our jobs and for heaven’s sakes our churches, we must submit our preferences to a simple question:

 “What is the best way to carry out the Great Commandment of loving God and loving all people?”

We would do well to think deeply about that question. In fact, instead of just fighting for what seems right to you, take a step back and question your own assumptions and be part of the conversation for how to move forward in unity—laced with words from God’s grace. Perhaps it is time for us to sit down and right out some of our opinions. Are they biblical, helpful, encouraging to others?

Most of the time our opinions have little to do with biblical matters but we find a way to bring them into the church anyway and then the unity that Jesus wants for the church begins to divide and fall. Kind of like the bread to the raccoon—no eats for you unless you speak my language, believe in my beliefs, etc. Could it be that the raccoon has a better theology? For him, it didn’t make any difference how the language came out; he enjoyed the company and the food! Let’s give “encouraging food” in our words to one another so we can build unity that can change our lives and the world! AMEN.