By Allen White
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be
willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Romans
12:16
Harmony seems like such a Hippie word. In fact, a student at
my college was raised by Hippie parents in the Northwest. Her name was Melody.
Her sister’s was Harmony. Harmony is reminiscent of that old Coca-Cola
commercials, “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…” (Let’s
all sway together.)
I don’t know that our focus is so much harmony as avoiding
disharmony. You do your thing. I’ll do my thing. As long as our things don’t
interfere, we sort of have harmony. Avoidance or tolerance would be better
terms.
In music, harmony is any simultaneous combination of tones.
Every instrument doesn’t play the melody in unison, but all of the different
tones fit together. Harmonies can be beautiful. Disharmony can be painful.
According to this passage, the issue of harmony revolves
around pride, conceit and snobbery. The problem comes down to how our
possessions make us feel important.
I love cars (and I didn’t say like). Over the years, I have
owned the following vehicles: Porsche, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Honda, Toyota,
Ford, and Mazda. In high school mine was the only Porsche in the parking lot. I
loved that little Porsche. I could break the speed limit with elegance. There
weren’t a lot of Porches in Topeka, Kansas in the early ‘80s. But, when another
Porsche saw me, I got a little wave. I was in an elite club of Porsche owners.
It felt good.
Then, the Porsche fell apart. After a two year hiatus from
any car, my parents gave me a 1974 Cadillac Coupe deville. It was huge. It
could sleep six. It was rust colored which fortunately matched the rust. It got
nine miles per gallon, which fortunately my folks bought the gas. I wasn’t proud
of that car. It got me from point A to point B without having to beg my college
friends for a ride, but that was the best of it. It had a very smooth ride
probably because it weighed 8000 pounds.
Shortly after college, I traded up to an Oldsmobile Cutlass
Calais. Now, I was back in business. A few years later, I upgraded to a Honda
Accord. When the Accord turned 12-years-old, I got a free car from my
father-in-law, so it was a Ford and a Toyota. Both were respectable cars.
Today, I am driving a 12-year-old Mazda that was a godsend
in a time of vehicular need. It gets me from point A to point B. And, at this
point in my life, that is all that I need. The reality is that Porsche Allen
would not have associated with Mazda Allen. Fortunately, Mazda Allen is mature
enough to realize that our significance comes from God, not from what we drive.
Jesus didn’t drive anything. In fact, Jesus was basically
homeless (Matthew 8:20). He was on the fringe of society. Jesus didn’t put up
with the conventional wisdom of the day. As the Firstborn of All Creation
(Colossians 1:15), Jesus knew that a person’s place in this life had no bearing
on their place in the next. In fact, the opposite was true (Mark 10:31).
How has disharmony crept into your life? Who are you uncomfortable
being around? Who do you feel “better than”? I would encourage you to repent of
those thoughts and see the true worth of God’s children.
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