What's beef?

Mos def and Talib Kweli have a song called 'what's beef'. (No, they are not Christian but they have very thoughtful and intelligent lyrics) Anyway, in this song they talk about what they consider beef... not the meat but meaning having a problem or conflict with someone or something. They go on to highlight different conflicts that someone might have with people, ideas and/or concepts.

This song started to make me think about internal and external beef. I will write another entry on internal beef but with this entry I would like to talk about external beef. Conflict, drama, problems or however you want to put it.

Let me start with giving you my stance on external beef. Bottom line is we should not have any. There should not be any beef between you or anyone else. There is no viable excuse to have any, especially if we are trying to be Christ like. I often joke around with some of my people from church and tell them that "I HAVE to love them cause the Bible tells me to". They know I am just joking. Unfortunately some people actually live this out. I've also heard people say "I have to love you but that does not mean I have to like you". That makes me scratch my head all the time. Now I am not saying that we all have to be best friends, have sleep overs where you share your inner most secrets or that we have to share and spend our time with people who do not fit the description of what a best friend is to you.
What I am saying is we should not harbor any ill feelings for anyone or feel like we have enemies . I would take it a step further and say that we should not be indifferent or non-caring about people, especially those that share the same beliefs as we have. Jesus was asked a question by the religious rulers of his time concerning the greatest commandment. I am sure that many reading this (all 2 of you) know it or at least heard it. "Love the Lord you God with all your heart with all your mind with all your strength..." but it does not end there. The second part of the greatest commandment is simple in terms of understanding it, "...and Love your neighbor as yourself" but it's one of the hardest to live out.

Talking about this reminds me of the good Samaritan story. Despite his personal feelings for the poor Jewish individual who was robbed and beating this Samaritan man showed more love and compassion than any of the other religious leaders or officials that saw the man lying in the road. The Samaritan not only bandaged him but took him to an Inn and paid for his care and stay. If that was not enough he also promise to pay anything extra should this stranger needed it. The remarkable aspect to the story is not only his kindness and compassion but it was extending these acts to that stranger especially because the stranger was a Jew. Samaritans and Jews where the worst of enemies. Jews regarded Samaritans with the type of affection that only the most lowly and undeserving person can expect. In turn the Samaritans where not very fond of the Jews to say the least. I hope you see where I am going with this. If this is the type of love that Jesus said we should have even when the love is given to someone that we feel is not deserving of it, then how much more should we love a brother or sister in Christ?

If God felt so much love for us who fell short of his glory... All of us who live in darkness, all of us who fulfilled the desires of our flesh, all of us who turned our backs on the light. He loves us so much despite all of that then why can we love our brethren? Why can't we share the gift given to us, why can't we be a loving neighbor?

The only beef should be medium-well with mash potatoes, corn and a cold drink to wash it down.