Love does not separate

As a Christian, sometimes it is easy to separate myself from others. I think it is only a natural reaction, since a part of the Christian spiritual path is sanctification, which means to be set apart. What does that mean though? Should I live in a box? Should I judge others and condemn them because they are not like me, and forcefully push people away?

Rather, I think being set apart is more that there is a noticeable difference about you, something that people should be attracted to, not turned off by. In the same way, I don't feel my role as a Christian should be one of pushing people away, but embracing them. This does come with careful moves though. Jesus hung out with the prostitutes and drunkards, but he didn't do what they did. He also had a strong core of friends that were believers like him. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:14 "Be not unevenly yoked with unbelievers." So, granted my girlfriend or my best confidant shouldn't ever be someone who I'm not on the same page with spiritually. But this says something positive, not just negative. That if I am evenly yoked, then I will be doing the right thing. For we are in the world, not of the world. But to be in the world, we can't be living in a protective bubble. God knows you're human, you're going to make mistakes, but sometimes that's the only way we learn. Let's learn how to be evenly yoked, whatever that might mean for yourself.

Still, too many times, I think we let other things separate us. Not just our religion. Think about politics. There's such a division there between Republican and Democrat that even Christians part ways at the subject. I've been convicted lately to submit myself to other believers, no matter what their political stance. Because in the end, everything is learned through submission, and I think we can really learn something from each other if we just lay aside ourselves. Sounds like what Jesus told us to do, right?

We should never put our worldview or political opinion before others, and especially never before the word of God. We should be asking ourselves, "What does the Bible say about this?", instead of relying on our own judgment on such issues.

It seems like most of our problems in the world are because we distinguish between one another. Think about patriotism and nationalism. These things are based on pride and separation. "We are the best." and "You are not us." Peace is ultimately acceptance. Let God be the judge of man. Think about the Olympics and how much fun everyone has watching them and the athletes playing the games. But we've lost something when we're so far gone in our national pride that we forget that the others we are competing against deserve just as much love and respect. When people are killed over such petty things, something has totally gone wrong. It's because we are separating ourselves, instead of accepting each other, having fun, and learning from our differences.

We're all human, right?

Think about Cain and Abel. The first children. The first brothers. Yet they grew separate. Cain was jealous of Abel because he felt inferior. He felt this separation because he focused on their differences and grew envious. Abel was a shepherd, Cain was a farmer. Abel's sacrifice was praised by God, and Cain's wasn't because he didn't offer up his best. Instead of changing and learning from Abel's praiseworthy heart, he killed him because he was jealous and angry. He felt unloved, different, and rejected, yet did not know how to process these emotions.

All this can be pretty hard to discern and get right. I think so many times because of our upbringing and religious backgrounds, we get too religious, too one sided, when really we should be becoming more relational. Not in that we should conform to the ways of this world, if we're Christian, but relational in that our walk is about our relationship with God and others.

The law is summed up in that we should love God with all our being, and then love others as ourselves. The two are dependent on one another. For I can't love my brother, if I don't first find love from God. And I can't possibly love God if I hate my brother.

Therefore let's love each other, and be good to each other. And everything will be alright, ok?

LOVE,
jordan