Breaking Barriers
If you consider yourself a Christian and you do not believe in “privilege” please explain what you had to do for your salvation?
All lives do matter. That is why Christ came to die. (2 Corinthians 5:15)
But, if there is privilege, real or perceived, if there is racism, real or perceived, if there is discrimination, real or perceived, it is our responsibility as Christians to reach across those lines and destroy the stigma. Jesus tells us in Luke 5:32 that He came to reach sinners, not the righteous.
In John 4 we see Jesus’ first and longest discourse. It is important to understand the situation that is unfolding in John’s Gospel. Jesus is as Jew, meeting with a woman, who is considered a “lesser race” and she is a sinner. From the perspective of the righteous, Jesus certainly should not be reaching out to this woman. Her situation is her own. It is not Jesus’ problem that she was born from among the Samaritan people. It is her sin that has put her in the position she is in. How is her situation Jesus’ fault? Why is it His responsibility to find her and reach out to her in her own backyard? Well, that was His mission. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17)
As warriors, we put our own safety aside in order to protect those is harm’s way and the oppressed. We not only stand in the gap between the oppressors and the oppressed, we are willing to do violence on behalf of the oppressed to rescue them from their oppressors. What about the communities that we live in here at home? Are they truly peaceful? Or, are they harboring feelings of oppression? In James 2:8, we are told to, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Politicians and media are clearly working for the evil one. They will try to divide us. They will exploit our differences and hammer wedges between us. Paul was clear in Corinthians 9 that he became all things to all people. His intention was to be available to everyone. When Jesus tells us in Mark to proclaim the Gospel, “To the whole of creation,” it was not limited to certain people. It is a fact that we have cultural differences, but there is common ground in the need for Christ as our Savior. We can all, no matter color, culture or socioeconomic differences can be unified in Christ. “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)
It is up to us to bring unity to our neighborhoods and communities. There is only one who brings perfect unity to all. Share the love of Christ with you neighbors, even the ones that don’t look like you, listen to the same music, eat different food and talk differently. Break those barriers. Extend the love of Christ and heal our communities.
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! - Psalm 133:1
