There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28
Our greatest expertise is division. One of my seminary professors talked about the division between Jews and Gentiles in the first century. The people were the same. They had the same ancestry. They looked the same. But people found a dividing factor. Judaism. The religion meant to draw the world to God divided the world into insiders and outsiders.
Since those days, we continue to divide. Typing “church” into a GPS inside any population center results in dozens of possibilities within two tenths of a mile. I played one day just to see if I ever got out of range. I didn’t.
We continue to divide. It seems our greatest pleasure. Our politics are divided. Our neighborhoods are divided. Our nations, our shopping habits, our recreation...anything you can name...we divide.
But God has a different vision. “...you are all one in Christ Jesus.” All...One...
Living with the fundamental reality that we are ONE would transform our world.
Get real? Perhaps. I don’t see it happening worldwide anytime soon. But I know this. We can live this way in our congregations, then expand to our world. The church of Jesus Christ is the place where no divisions should occur. That we can control. We can resist with ever fiber of our being the temptation to divide ourselves. Step inside our walls and there is no Democrat or Republican, Independent or Tea Party. There is no rich or poor, no good Christian or bad Christian. There are simply children of God trying the best they can to live in obedience and gratitude.
We won’t agree. Our differences will always be evident. But we will not be able to be divided. We are one. That is what it means to be united in Christ.
God, enable us to cling tightly to one another. As differences arise, give us the heart and strength to bond in spite of what divides us, celebrating the knowledge that you are our unity. Amen.
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