The Great Dividing Line

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." - 1 Peter 2:9-10

In the eternal context of things there is but one distinction between the people on this planet. Those who are deemed righteous by faith and those who are not. We love to make distinctions. To put people in the "good" group and the rest in the "not-so-good" group. And those in the "good" group will even subdivide themselves - because it is what the flesh loves to do - even though people think they are being spiritually minded when they do it. The Bible is clear enough.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:28

We are all familiar with that verse and other verses that talk about unity - oneness in the Body of Christ. I think the root of the problem is that we focus on our natural roots, first, and not the source of our spiritual roots which is rebirth. 

I am certain at some time you have heard or read the excerpt from the Emma Lazarus poem associated with the Statue of Liberty. 

'Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!'" - Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus

The hope of the founders of this nation had spiritual roots, but the people lacked the spiritual power to make that vision a reality. The founders were mere men and women who struggled with the flesh as does all mankind. As a country, people from the 4 corners of the world have come to this country - not so much to embrace the common culture but to escape the circumstances of political and social oppression, poverty and hunger they faced int he country of their birth. And so, this "melting pot" called the United States is not so united but has become a country of many cultures - separated and suspicious often in contention with one another. 

I see parallels with the Christian life. People from the 4 corners of the world turn their hearts toward God, but like Lot's wife, look back at their "Sodom" not wanting to abandon the natural for the spiritual. This republic is more a social experiment than a spiritual one. The unity and harmony envisioned by the founders has proven to be a pipe dream - out of reach in the natural sense and neglected in the spiritual sense. It is an opportunity for the Church to be witness to this nation and the world that one people, real life, real liberty and real happiness can only be found by faith in Jesus and spiritual transformation.

"Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."- Ephesians 2:19-22

"For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building." - 1 Corinthians 3:3-9

Think about it – Pray about 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