Acts 15:8-9 God,
who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy
Spirit to them, just as He did to us. He did not discriminate between
us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith. (NIV)
It must have come as a
great shock to some religious traditionalists that Paul and Barnabas were
preaching Christ’s Gospel to the Gentiles. For generations, the people of God
had assumed that their way of doing things was perfect and could only be properly
accomplished by keeping their religion pure. They faithfully accepted Christ as
their Savior but were not too happy to give Him away to outsiders. They
believed that Jesus was their exclusive Messiah and that they were being rewarded
for their faithfulness, so why should renegades like Paul and Barnabas
carelessly share the Good News of salvation with anyone who was willing to
listen and accept Christ for themselves?
They had good intentions
about keeping Christianity under the umbrella of tradition, but they had
forgotten how radical Christ had been when He ministered on Earth. He never
turned away outsiders, but instead, He took opportunities to meet, heal, and
tell them about God’s Kingdom. He even asked God to forgive them when the Gentile
Romans nailed Him to the Cross. This was a sign of how boundless God’s grace
was, but those who sought to control Christian faith after His death had either
forgotten His expansive ministry or chose to ignore it.
As Christians in the
world, we are meant to be the same type of gracious and boundless people. If we
discard or discount others because they are outsiders – religiously,
culturally, or racially – then we have forgotten who Christ was and what His
ministry still is today. If we are fearful, we will want to keep Jesus for
ourselves in a belief box of our own making; however, if we are faithful, we
will want to share His mercy, grace, and love with everyone, no matter who they
are, where they come from, or whatever they do. Remember, we were all once
outside of His fold and enemies of God, so why shouldn’t the same opportunity
of Good News and Salvation, kindness and love be shown and given to all?
Point to ponder
Whom do I consider to
be outsiders in my life? How can I show and share Christ’s love and God’s
compassion with them?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we
get so caught up in trying to serve and please You that we forget to spread
Your Gospel by sharing Your love with others who are outside of our circle of
faith. Forgive us for narrowing Your grace and help us to overcome our fears of
those who are different by seeing them with Your eyes and loving them with God’s
heart. In your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor
of Erin Presbyterian Church in
Knoxville, Tennessee. Please come and join us for worship on Sundays at 11:00
AM. You will be made very welcome 😊
Today’s image is one of
John’s original drawings called ‘Eternal Mystery of Trinity.’ If you would like
to view a larger version, click this link: Mystery.
No comments:
Post a Comment