Do you see that? Your race is “Christian.” Your nationality is “Christian.” Your people are “Christians.” When we learn to see things this way, when we learn to identify primarily as someone who is “in Christ,” then we will see others who are in Christ as being our people, our group.
As Paul wrote, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:16). It’s all about being “in Christ.” It’s all about being “a new creation.”
The more we focus on the spiritual, the less the physical will matter.
Take Responsibility
Our tendency at this point is to acknowledge the problem but blame the people in the other groups. Older people say, “You’re right, but young people these days just don’t want to have anything to do with older folks like me.” While the younger people say, “Older Christians think poorly of my generation and they don’t want to build relationships with us.” And groups of Christians with different skin colors say, “It’s not us, it’s them.”
It’s time we stop the finger pointing and it’s time each of us takes responsibility for ourselves. It’s time we get out of our comfort zones in order to get to know our brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless of their age, their socioeconomic background, their skin color, their hobbies or anything else that might make them different from us. It’s time we take the initiative to help make the church what the church is supposed to be.
I realize it can be hard, when lines of segregation have already been drawn, to make changes; but if we are all willing to make small steps in the right direction, we can make a difference over time. You could start today by:
• inviting someone over to your home for dinner who isn’t “in your group.”
• sitting on a different pew in the worship assembly.
• attending a different Bible class.
• if you’re looking for a new congregation, you could even consider helping a congregation be less segregated; who cares if there are very few people your age, with your skin color or at your economic level?
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:16).
I love you and God loves you.
