Alive by Grace: United in Christ

 

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:17-18

 Peacemakers, that’s what we’re called to be. Jesus doesn’t want us to empower an us-and-them society where we seek to make ourselves greater at the expense of others. He has called us to One family, One people. While there is diversity and beauty in that family, and we can celebrate that, we cannot let it create division.

 Jesus, through His sacrifice for us on the cross, set us free from slavery to sin and death, but He has not yet completely cleansed us of our sin nature – that comes when we are finally set free from this earthly existence and we get to be with Jesus, and like Him, because we see Him (1 John 3:2). So, as we muddle through this life, we will still occasionally fall prey to that sin nature inside us. That’s why we can be grateful that Jesus covered all of our sins, past and present. This sin nature has caused no end of trouble. For example, we are called to be one people, one family, in God, and yet we have created for ourselves all of these divisions called denominations. One might say they are just different ways of learning about and worshiping the same God, but then you see the horrible wars that have been fought between them, as in Ireland between the Catholics and the Protestants. In small-town America, I’m told, you can see hostility between Baptists and Methodists and Episcopalians.

 And then you bring politics into it. There doesn’t seem to be a faster way to spark anger and division in a group than to bring up the latest political hot button topic. Some churches are founded around this, being the liberal church or the conservative one, but the thing is, Jesus was neither a Democrat, nor a Republican, and He would probably be equally disappointed in them both! Neither party is glorifying God and seeking His will and there is no “better” option here – remember, with God, sin is sin. Does that mean we shouldn’t be involved in politics? No, I wouldn’t say that. We are called to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16), and in this country (the US) that often comes through the political forum. But we cannot, we must not, allow it to create divisions between us and our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Here's the Thing: In Christ, we are one body, one flesh. We all have different roles to play in that body (1 Corinthians 12:12), but above all we are called to unity. We are to be a people that is known for and exemplifies God’s love, to the world and to each other.