“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.” – 1 Peter 1:17-19
“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, My Utmost For His Highest.
The nature of the natural man is to cling to his culture. What he or she has been taught is right and
wrong by family traditions, friends, the culture they live in. 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.
“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.” – Galatians
3:26-29
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 spiritual
– supernatural fact. A truth 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 fathers? Listen, what I am telling you is truth, but
it is a hard truth. It is difficult to embrace
for most Christians. 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.
Believe it – walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the
glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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