The violence of Lamech

     I grew up in California as a non-Christian and rather gender-blind. Yes, that’s me on the far left, the only girl with nine boys in the mountaineering club—and I honestly never thought twice about it. We went cross-country skiing, hiking, rock-climbing, and snow-camping together. They treated me like one of them and some are still my friends today.

     So accommodating to a Christian, East Coast culture is a bit of a shift for me, as my husband understands. I work to understand the culture out here, but that doesn’t mean I agree with it. Ben Witherington III has an convicting article on the hatred between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Anyone in heated conflicts--such as TEC/ACNA, racial, gender,  inter-family, husband/wife, etc--should read this all the way through and then go out and try much harder to voice the other side’s concerns and not just their own. (When your companions are out for blood, the causality may be that your private worship practices include too many books of whatever stripe and not enough singing; it may be indicative that the Lord has become a use and not a friend.) I like how Dr. Witherington ends his article, though: “Blood may be thicker than baptismal water, but sometimes grace and forgiveness happens even in a family feud.”