Conflict and Clashing Cymbals

Have you ever noticed in the Bible how God used dreams to reveal Himself and communicate His will to others? 

There was Jacob, dreaming of angels ascending and descending a ladder to Heaven. Joseph was freed from prison in Egypt when God enabled Him to correctly interpreted a series of dreams. Daniel rose to a position of high authority in Babylon after interpreting a troubling dream the king had. Mary’s husband, Joseph, was told in a dream not to divorce her even though she was pregnant with God’s Son. And Peter received the revelation through a dream that the gospel of Christ was for gentiles as well as Jews/

God doesn’t often speak to me directly, but recently I awoke in the middle of the night with a brief message I believe was from Him. I don’t know if it was a dream, or just a thought, but what He said was simple.

I had been interacting with a friend, a fellow believer on a theological matter and had sent him a lengthy email about it, citing chapter and verse to support why what I believe is true. What our disagreement concerned doesn’t matter here, but what the Lord spoke to me about it consisted of just two words: “Clanging cymbal.”

In 1 Corinthians 13:1 it says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” It goes on to say, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing….”

To me, this says that from God’s perspective, it’s not just what we say – however true it may be – but also how we say it, and why. “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

My natural communication style is to be direct and forthright. The problem with that is, even if what I say is on point, I can offend or hurt someone if I fail to cushion what I say without also communicating the genuine love and concern I have for them. Too often I’ve done just that. So I sent my friend a follow-up email, asking his forgiveness for insensitivity and lack of Christlike love I might have conveyed earlier. His or my rightness or wrongness wasn’t important.

In 1 John 4:16 we’re told, “God is love,” and I’ve thought a lot about that and what it means in an everyday, practical sense. I plan to do even more thinking about it. But one manifestation of it – if it’s true, as the Bible tells us, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20) – is that whether it’s our speech, thoughts toward others, or actions, all should be guided according to the love of Jesus working in us and through us. 

Hence, even if we’re exactly correct in what we’re saying – and I’m not arguing or defending the point I was trying to make with my friend – if we don’t do it with sincere, Christ-centered love toward the other person(s), it’s all for naught.

Today’s society encourages people to vent their feelings, frustrations and fears. “Just let it out.” But much – probably most – of it is rooted in hatred, antagonism and animosity. There’s no love being shown, no desire for reconciliation or working toward mutual accord. This, perhaps more than in any other way, is where followers of Jesus can distinguish ourselves from everyone else. (And if you think I’m pointing a finger at you, keep in mind I’m pointing the other fingers back at me!)

In John 13:35, Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." He also said we’re to “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27,35). Why such a big deal about love? Why all this schmaltzy stuff Jesus is talking about, if we’re to win the day, exert our influence, and right the wrongs?

Years ago, a wise man put it this way: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” That’s good advice as we go into the day, governing how we think about others, speak to them and act toward them. Are we speaking and acting with grace, as Colossians 4:6 instructs us, or do we come across as resounding gongs or clanging cymbals?

Crashing cymbals might be useful for marching bands and rock groups, but not for building relationships or creating harmony and unity.

What Do Others See As Your Identity?

Logos communicate an image or idea instantly.

In business, identity is critical. We see it with quickly recognizable logos – for example, Nike, KFC, BMW, or New York Yankees. Business cards are designed to instantly convey who you are and what you do. When a company comes up with a unique product, they take legal steps to establish their trademark. And more and more these days, enterprises become extremely protective of their brand, who they are as a whole – think NASCAR, or Disney.

What do you think of when you see this silhouette?
What do people think when they see your "logo"?

Have you ever considered, even if you don’t own a business or head a company, that you also have a “logo,” “business card,” “trademark” and “brand” by which others can assess who you are and what you stand for?

Recently I read the following that speaks to that: “Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you becomes your trademark.” And I would add, “whether others aspire to be like you is your brand.”

Think about it: Whenever we have an encounter with someone else, whether in the workplace, neighborhood, supermarket, school, even a ball field, we make an impression. And impressions are lasting, sometimes indelible. People associate us with an image we’ve created – in essence, our logo, our business card, our trademark, and our brand.

So what does your personal “logo” look like? Is it a smile that makes others smile as well, or a frown that darkens someone’s otherwise sunny day? When people look at your “business card,” are they drawn to you as a person they want to hang around with – or when they see you approach, do they look for somewhere to hide?

I’ve been around people whose “trademark” was extremely appealing. They had the innate capacity to turn my frown upside-down. There have been others, however, who made the Grim Reaper seem like the life of the party. And there have been some individuals who, even though they’d be embarrassed if I said so, exhibited qualities I greatly admired and wished to emulate in my own life. In other words, I appreciated their “brand.”

A logo, trademark, even a
business card, make up
a brand - literally and
figuratively.

You might be thinking – as I do – that's easier for some people to pull off than others. Energetic, effervescent, gregarious people seem to attract others like magnets without much effort. Folks swarm around them, thinking, “I’ll have what she’s having.” What about introverts (and I’m one) who have to labor at engaging effectively with others. Are our logo, business card, trademark and brand doomed from the start?

For followers of Jesus, we will always have the personalities – winsome or otherwise – we’ve been hard-wired with from birth, but we have an advantage: He can, and desires, to manifest His life through us. Reading about His life in the gospels, we find Jesus had people flocking to Him all of the time. “News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases…. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him” (Matthew 4:24-25).

That’s nice, but what does it have to do with us and how we interact with people around us? Actually, it has a lot to do with it. Because, as Galatians 2:20 says of each believer in Jesus, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

If that’s true, what’s the result? Simply that when people encounter us, they should feel – consciously or subconsciously – that they are in His presence as well. As the Scriptures tell us, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2 Corinthians 2:14-15). 

Would people say you exhibit the “fragrance of Christ”? If people were to describe your logo, trademark or brand, would they say that Jesus Christ is a significant part of it? Is He an integral part of your identity, of who you are?