ODJ: community or clique?
My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? (v.1).
READ: James 2:1-9
Birds of a feather flock together. That’s why you never see a robin flying wingman in a “V” formation of geese or a crow hanging out with hummingbirds (actually, crows are mean enough that they don’t even like the company of other crows).
But we who are filled with the Holy Spirit are empowered to buck this law of nature and follow the example of Jesus. He shared His life with an unusual group of guys who were not like Him or even each other. What do the Son of God, a tax collector, an anti-government zealot, and a handful of fishermen have in common?
This kind of community was not natural, and—sadly—the first generation of Christians began separating over class and racial differences. Jews looked down on Gentiles, masters thought less of slaves, and the wealthy abused the poor. James ordered the church to stop giving preferential treatment to the rich (James 2:1-9) and Paul admonished the Corinthians to eat together rather than divide by class (1 Corinthians 11:33-34). He reminded the Galatians that “there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
Henri Nouwen defined community as “the place where the person you least want to live with always lives.” Philip Yancey explains: “Often we surround ourselves with the people we most want to live with, thus forming a club or a clique, not a community. Anyone can form a club; it takes grace, shared vision, and hard work to form a community.”
Do you start conversations at church with those who are different from you? Do you invite people to dinner that you don’t particularly like? This kind of community is not natural. But it changed the world once, and it can do so again. —Mike Wittmer
When did you last share a meal or some time with a Christian individual or family from a different race or social or economic status? Who might God want you to invite into your world? Why?
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Loading ...ODB: judge not!
July 16, 2010
READ: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Judge not, that you be not judged. —Matthew 7:1
When Jesus commanded, “Judge not,” He was not implying that we should be naïve or imprudent. Of course we need to think critically and analytically in this world where we are often confronted with error and wrongdoing. Instead, He meant that we should not be condemning or accusing, a point Paul made eloquently: “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts” (1 Cor. 4:5).
Poet Robert Burns made a similar point, writing of those whose actions are in doubt: “One point must still be greatly dark—the [motive]. Why they do it.” No one knows another’s motives. God alone can bring to light what is hidden in darkness; He alone can expose the intentions of the heart.
Jesus knows the latent forces that motivate others: the cruel beginnings, the fear, the disappointment, the broken heart, the sin that is resisted. Moreover, He is working in every submissive heart to bring it to maturity. Thus in the end—quite often contrary to our expectations—He will bring praise to those He has brought to completion.
The Lord alone can try the heart. Until He returns, let’s ask Him to help us examine our own. —David Roper
Be slow to judge others, but quick to judge yourself.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...How To Choose Your Soccer Team
By Rachel Ang, 21, Singapore
This is slightly outdated, but the girl who has never been interested in football has watched her first soccer match!
Having read my previous article, my friends were ready to explain to me the rules and mechanics of the game as we sat down to watch Germany play against Argentina in the semi-finals. Thanks to them, I was able to grasp the mysterious concept of offside.
In spite of myself, I actually did enjoy the 90mins of 20 men, minus the goalies, running after a ball. But now that I have one foot through the doorway of soccer fanaticism, I’ve met another roadblock: the question of which team to support.
Unlike the extensive and exhaustive lists of traits that people produce when considering their future life partners, I only have five simple requirements.
1. The team must be strong. It probably takes a certain amount of knowledge of a team’s history and details in order to sympathize with them, but, not having that, supporting the under-dog is a noble notion I would prefer not to apply. Who would ever want to be on a losing side?
2. My friends must support that team. Strength in numbers is the key. To pull it to an extreme, I’m sure we know how “dangerous” it can be to be alone in wearing, for example, a Brazil jersey while touring England during the World Cup season, or vice versa.
3. My friends must not laugh at that team. Putting aside the element of potential “danger”, I’m sure anyone can understand when I say that it is not a pleasant thing to be ridiculed! At the Germany verses Argentina viewing, the number of Germany fans happened to outnumber the Argentina ones, and it was slightly uncomfortable for me watching the Deutschland supporters mocking the unfortunate fans.
4. The team must sport a distinct and unique jersey color. This is for the very practical purpose of being able to follow the game, and is especially important to inexperienced viewers such as myself. I don’t want to be mistaking the opposing team for my own, nor cheering idiotically when they score a goal against my side!
5. The players have to be fairly good-looking. This is an auxiliary point, but I think having handsome players on the team makes watching the game a much more pleasant experience. It is also a factor that is fairly important to consider in the event that I decide to become slightly more hard-core and put up their pictures and posters on the walls of my room.
Pretty reasonable, right? But when I shared my list with a friend, he commented, especially regarding No. Five, “Don’t you think that’s quite superficial?”
The interesting thing is, we sometimes apply similar guidelines in the way we choose who we want to associate with. It’s easy to understand why we would want to hang out with the “in” crowd. This includes people who have strong characters, who are popular with other people, who are respected and never ridiculed, who wear nice and fashionable clothes and are considered pretty or handsome. We seldom want to interact with those who are considered eccentric, different, or for some reason or other have been labelled simply uncool.
But that isn’t how Christians should act. In James’ letter to believers, he warns them about showing favoritism to some people over others. He pointed that we shouldn’t give special attention to the wealthy or those who dressed fancifully (James 2:1-9). Such discrimination reflects evil motives—a desire for material benefits rather than loyalty to God.
Also in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus explains that the people whom we should show love to shouldn’t consist only of people whom we like, or who have high status and recognition in society. We are to show love to even the socially despised*.
Soccer players will not suffer much for the lack of one fan’s support, but to some people among us, having someone who cares enough to smile and say “Hello” could mean a world of difference in their lives. Let’s learn not to look at people’s social standing, clothes or appearance, but to truly see them and their needs through the eyes of God’s compassion.
Loving our neighbors will not always be easy, and will sometimes need us to make personal sacrifices. But with all the energy and enthusiasm we can have in supporting distant soccer stars, surely we can spare some to share God’s love to a lonely soul closer to home, in the same way that He first loved us?
No one has ever seen God.
But if we love each other, God lives in us,
and His love is brought to full expression in us.
1 John 4:10-12
*The Jews were scornful of the Samaritans as the Israelites from that region had intermarried with foreigners. Samaritans were regarded as half-breeds, pagan and unclean, and Jews refused to associate with them.
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