Boundary Breaker
Theme of the Week: Who's In? Who's Out?
Rich Nathan
Monday, July 4, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life—that I should raise them at the last day (John 6:40). Bonus Reading: Mark 8:34-38;John 13:34-35
Christians have a set of boundary markers, defining who's in and who's out of the community of believers. Read the newsletters from Christian parachurch organizations. Listen to Christian radio. Liberals are out; conservatives are in. Homosexuals are out; heterosexuals are in. Those who are pro-choice on the abortion issue are definitely out; those who are pro-life are definitely in. While I'm strongly pro-life and have actively worked for 20 years in various pro-life activities, I challenge the use of outward "badges" to identify God's people.
Who drew lines and used identifying badges in Jesus' day—the Pharisees or Jesus? A Pharisee believed he could tell who was one of God's covenant people by examining how that person observed the Sabbath. Who said that prostitutes and tax collectors would get into the kingdom before many of those who were supposedly in?
Jesus' identifying badges drastically differed from those of the Pharisees and many contemporary Christians: love, faith, mercy, compassion, self-denial, cross bearing, and being unashamed of Him or His words. Are these the badges you and I use to determine who's in and who's out?
—Rich Nathan in Who Is My Enemy?
My Response: Whom have I labeled "them" that Jesus might label "us"?
Adapted from Who Is My Enemy? (Tyndale, 1998) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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Lord Jesus, I tend to cold-shoulder those You reach out to with compassion. Please change my heart.
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