No More Circles
Vaccinations. Lockdowns. Politics. Money. Religion.
There are certain topics that divide people into “us” and “them” very quickly. Oh, so you’re one of “those” people. Have you heard what “they” said?!
I read the following quote the other day and it made me pause and reflect on our current climate:
“We live in a time of great hostility, and the temptation from which we must defend ourselves is to pull back from others, deny our shadow, and retreat into our own defended camps or isolated positions. This temptation is not detachment, but the giving over of ourselves to the illusion of separation. True spiritual action (as opposed to reaction) demands our own ongoing transformation, often changing sides to be where the pain is, as Jesus exemplified in his great self-emptying. Rather than accusing others of sin on the Left or the Right, Jesus instead “became sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He stood in solidarity with the problem itself, and his compassion and solidarity were themselves the healing.” Richard Rohr
When Jesus began His public ministry in AD 27, He lived in a divided world. There were the Romans (the “enemies”), the Jews who worked for the Romans (“the traitors”), the Pharisees (blue collar political and religious leaders), the Sadducees (aristocratic religious and political leaders), the Essenes (monastic), the Zealots, etc. There were clear circles and you were either in or out. Then Jesus came along and interacted with everyone: tax collectors, prostitutes, Pharisees, rich young rulers, priests, scribes, farmers, fishermen, Roman centurions, Gentiles, Samaritans, women, children, widows, the sick, the lepers, the hypocrites…
Jesus sat, ate and dwelt with people where they were and then called them together into a new community – a community without exclusive circles, a community without walls. A community who, through the Holy Spirit, commits to working through their pride, prejudice, and conflicts to treat each other with respect and consideration:
“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:8-17 NIV
This is a challenging call. The first disciples struggled to accept and love each other. Christians throughout the generations have failed to embrace those who disagreed or differed from them. The example and command of Jesus to love one another truly takes a miracle, a renewing of a “new self.”
That renewal takes humility, growth in the knowledge of the message of Christ, and the in-dwelling of the Spirit in our hearts.
May God grant us this miracle.
by: Jinha Kim
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14