Long Division- Not a Math Lesson

Galatians 3:28-29 28-29In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises. Take it deeper A few months ago, I had a good friend of mine at World Vision ask me a question. I answered his question, and then he said, “You know…” I could tell he was about to delve into something very thought provoking and deeply spiritual. He is a deep thinker and a question asker. So he says to me, “You know Sam, you are a very unique person. You look at people and just see them.” After saying thank you I explain to him, “God showed me a secret on how to love people no matter what they do. The secret is to separate the person and their actions.” What I mean is you have to be able to look at a person, regardless of what they have done, and love them. In fact, a verse in Jude (which we will cover a bit), says that we are to “Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin.” How do we do that? We have to embrace what Paul says in Galatians (Through Eugene Peterson of course!): …no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and femal. Among us you are all equal!” (V. 28). God made us all, we all sin (Romans 3:23), and when we become Christians, we are adopted into God’s family and reunited with our creator. Our relationship with Christ is what ties us. It drives us to a common purpose: to please and honor our father. It should be something that unites us beyond our petty differences. But too often we see division and strife. I love the way Jesus puts it in one of the gospels. “How can Satan drive out Satan? Matthew 12:25, 26 says, “ 25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?” It should be no surprise that Jesus wasn’t just talking about driving out demons. Every house that has division is going to fall apart. Have you ever heard of someone getting a divorce for “irreconcilable differences?” 99.999% of the time, there is division in that home. Whether brought on by the husband or wife, it doesn’t matter. Someone in that situation refused to change and because of that there was a clash between what was there and the new identity that should have been created when they said, “I do.” Pastor Brian Houston, from Hillsong Sydney, tells a story that perfectly sums this up. He said he was visiting a ministry and had gotten up early to shower. He got done showering and realized he had not only forgotten to grab his clean clothes, but also a towel. He says that he debated whether to just stay there and shout for help, or to run to his room at the end of the hall. He decided to run. About half way down the hall, one of the doors started to open. He says that at that moment, part of him wanted to go back, and the rest of him wanted to just get to the room. The result was that he tripped and fell on his back. Division, especially in the house of God will destroy everything that Christ died to build. You have to realize they need Jesus as much as you and I do. You have to realize that no matter what color they are, no matter what country they are from, or what denomination they hold to, we are all God’s children, washed in the blood of Jesus. It is time to stop clinging to petty titles and small minded judgments about different believers and begin to go for God together as the body of Christ.As my nephew says, “Same Same.” Today, I ask you to look at those you have been avoiding and choose love. Prayer Father, today I pray that you would give me eyes to see people as you see them. For those who are fellow Christ followers: they are washed in the blood of my Master Jesus, forgiven and free. For those who do not follow Christ: they need Jesus’ blood to cleanse them. Regardless of race, creed, country or gender, I choose to love them today. I choose to pray for them today. Where possible, I choose to minister your love to them today. I pray that you would pour out your Spirit in my life so that I can minister in your power, not my own in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Questions to go deeper still • What is holding you back from recognizing someone as your brother or sister in Christ? • Why do you feel the need to hold on to their sins when God has forgiven them? • What is keeping you from choosing to love them today?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Analyst's view of Luke pt. 3

Luke 1:21-38 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless. 23 So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. 24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary 26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”[a] 29 But when she saw him,[b] she was troubled at his sayi
Read more

My daddy

In this world where so many are fatherless, many are frustrated and angry at their fathers, I want to take a few moments to talk about my dad. My dad was a fighter! When I say fighter I don't mean that he fought for money, or was in the Army. What I mean is that my dad fought many problems. He fought long days to provide for our family, he fought the attitudes my siblings and myself had towards him. He fought rejection, he fought loss, he fought being without a job, he fought the end of our church, he fought so much. It would be easy to look back at one of those areas and say, "Dad you didn't do enough!" It would be easy to look back at the long days he spent trying to provide for us away from us; a task that I cannot fathom at the present. Why do I bring this up? Why did I talk about him? The biggest reason is that today he embarks on perhaps the biggest journey of his life. He leaves for a 6 month job. A job that will take him THOUSANDS of miles away from his wife,
Read more

Lead like Jesus

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great  millstone  fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. - Matthew 18:4 but Jesus said,   “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”  - Matthew 19:14 These two verses make it abundantly clear to me that Jesus' mind is focused squarely on the children. In fact, Jesus makes it clear to us that if we mess with Children's access to God, we have some serious consequences awaiting us.   We see these verses and my mind immediately jumps to what we see in the present day. Lawmakers, teachers, activists, and people who are NOT you are trying to dramatically change your children. I get the understanding that interrupting children's access to Jesus is a big deal.  Jesus mentions that we shouldn't infringe, impact, or worst of all, cause a little one to sin. But what we see is quite the o
Read more