Nov 3, 2019, | Pastor Nathan Elms
We live in an era of intense political, social, and ethnic division…
Hate begets hate… Shame begets shame… Anger begets anger…
We have more in common than we do apart…
“Drawing identity from any area other than the source of life is a spiritual death sentence, and worse, it's contagious, because it gives birth to tribalism. However, when we return to our central identity of image-bearers designed to receive love from and reflect love to others, we are naturally invited to shed all of the unloving, fear-based tribal behaviors that come from loyalty to the label.”
― Benjamin L. Corey, Unafraid: Moving Beyond Fear-Based Faith
In the face of diversity, some find a reason for fear and insecurity and even hostility.
Diversity has led to division: political, racial, gender, cultural and economic division. There has always been some of this, but now it seems to be more prevalent.
Does God have anything to say about this?
The church is what God has to say.
The Church is called to be a Christ-centered community of diversity. Its very life proclaims the power of God to overcome the divisions that set people against each other.
In his letter to the Galatians, the apostle Paul announced, “In Christ, 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).
The church is to live as people touched by God's grace and no longer defined by the divisions that plague the world.
The sign of a carnal church is that it brings the divisions of the world right into the church.
Instead of reflecting the light of Christ, we mirror the broken world. Women are discriminated against, racial segregation persists and whenever an international conflict arises, those in the church are frequently uncritical cheerleaders for our nation’s side in the hostility.
