“Supernatural sense is the gift of His Son, and we should
never put our common sense on the throne. The Son always recognizes and
identifies with the Father, but common sense has never yet done so and never
will. Our ordinary abilities will never worship God unless they are transformed
by the indwelling Son of God. We must make sure that our human flesh is kept in
perfect submission to Him, allowing Him to work through it moment by moment.” OSWALD
CHAMBERS
(1 Peter 1:17-19)
“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out
your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as
silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed
down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ,
a lamb without blemish or defect.” The
nature of man is to cling to his culture.
What he or she has been taught is right and wrong by man.
When I was in grade school I can remember reading about the
United States being a “melting pot” where
many nations came together to be one people. Actually , it was man’s attempt to do what only God can do. That attempt failed. What I see today is one nation with many
cultures trying to cling to what they were before they or their ancestors came
to the United States. People set up
enclaves centered on their ethnicity or nationality. European, African, Hispanic, the list goes
on. It is the nature of man to associate
with people who look and act like themselves.
Among Christians, it is the same.
Someone said that 11:00am Sunday is the most segregated hour of the
week in the United States. For most people when they read this, their minds will think I am referring to black and white, but it is more pervasive than that.
(Galatians 3:26-29)
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you
who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither
slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
says - old things – including your primary devotion to your race or ancestors nationality
– are gone and all has become new. That
is a spiritual truth – a fact. One which
many Christians have a hard time living with and applying.
Why? Because devotion to the traditions of their natural fathers are very strong. I have said
several times, if I was standing with a group of men and said something against
their fathers or ancestors, they would become angry, but if I used God’s name
in vain, few, if any, would care. Why? Because
they are more devoted to men than they are to God. When I would preach in a
Haitian church for the first time, I would always begin with “Mwen pa blan, mwen fre
nou” which is to say “I am not white, I am your Brother” That was a hard truth to digest for a congregation
of mountain people who rarely saw a white man.
My point was that I was not standing before them as a white American,
but as an adopted son of God, saved by the blood of Jesus and His resurrection.
How do you want people to see you? How do you see yourself? First as a Christian?
If you believe Matthew 22:37, that
you are to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Where does
that leave your natural heritage and the traditions of your father? Listen, what I am telling you is truth, but
it is a hard truth. It is difficult to overcome. We don’t all have to speak with the same
accent or eat the same food or like the same clothing style, but we serve the
same Lord and belong to the same family. What the founders of this country tried to set in place with written law, God has already put in place through His Son by His Spirit. So maybe we should act like it. CHARLEY
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