ODB: Not My Kind
February 27, 2012
Love your neighbor— even if they aren’t your kind!
READ: Galatians 3:19-29
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. —Galatians 3:28
In the Star Wars trilogy there’s a scene that reminds me of some church people I know. At an establishment somewhere in a remote corner of the galaxy, grotesque-looking creatures socialize over food and music. When Luke Skywalker enters with his two droids, C3PO and R2D2 (who are more “normal” than anyone else there), he is surprisingly turned away with a curt rebuff: “We don’t serve their kind here!”
That strange scene captures the malady that we all struggle with in our relationships here on planet Earth. We are always more comfortable with people who are just like us. But think of where you would be if Jesus had felt that way. He was divine, perfect in every way, which makes Him far different from us. Yet He came to dwell among us and to die for us.
Those of us who follow Christ shouldn’t have “they’re not my kind” in our vocabulary. As Paul reminds us, in Him “there is neither Jew nor Greek, . . . slave nor free, . . . male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). So, whether others are different in attitude, perspective, race, class, political slant, or social standing, it should make no difference to those of us who call ourselves by Jesus’ name.
Find someone who is not your kind and share Jesus’ love with them today!
— Joe Stowell
Source: Our Daily Bread
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I believe in one God and so in the unity of His people. May our God help us so we all can love each other beyond skin, religion, race and anything else.
We don’t have a perfect church, perfect people and perfect system. However, we have a perfect God who will make everything perfect both people and things as they ought to be or God intended it to be.