Through His Son, Jesus, God meets us where we are and leads us to where He is calling us to be.
Yesterday, I shared a rather lengthy post entitled “Crossing Cultural Barriers With Jesus.” That’s exactly what Saul, the orthodox, traditionalist Jew did to reach the many peoples and cultures in the world of his day. How far did Saul go to reach these people with lifestyles and values drastically different from his own?
For starters, he changed his Jewish name to a Gentile name, and Saul became Paul. And it was Paul who said, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (I Corinthians 9:22)
I don’t think that many of us who grew up in church realize just how radical Paul’s commitment to crossing cultural barriers in his day really was. So radical, in fact, that he suffered greatly at the hands of many Jewish Christians who steadfastly refused to cross those same barriers in order to reach non-Jews (Gentiles).
It is this difference in outreach and evangelism that led Paul to write the letter to the Gentile churches in Galatia. In this letter, Paul makes it clear that one thing and one thing only leads to right standing (justification) before God. One thing and one thing only ushers us completely into God’s family and grants us citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven. And that one thing is faith.
The koine Greek word for faith is pistis. This one Greek word is translated three different ways in the New Testament: faith, belief, and trust. Personally, I think the word “trust” communicates most clearly what it means to follow Jesus. Faith and belief are religious words for most of us. But trust, well, trust is a word that strikes at the heart of what it means to commit our lives to God.
When God called Abram to follow him to “a land I will show you,” Abram had to make a choice: trust and follow or pass on God’s invitation.
When Moses met God at the burning bush and received God’s call to return to Egypt and “set my people free,” Moses chose to trust God and follow him back to the land he left forty years before. (And if you know the story, it was a real struggle for Moses.)
When Rahab, the prostitute in Jericho, hid the spies from Israel, helping her people’s enemies, she did what she did because she chose to trust Israel’s God (who became her God).1
The gospels are filled with examples of what it means to trust Christ. Jesus spoke of the pearl of great price, which led a man to sell everything he had to obtain it. He made it clear that leaving homes, lands, and families to follow him would be the price some would pay.
Trust. Nothing less and nothing more ushers us into God’s great family. And members of God’s family come from many different cultures, lifestyles, and ways of thinking. When Paul writes in Galatians 3:28 that “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” he’s not saying there are no differences between us. He’s saying that the barriers which once separated us no longer exist - in Christ.
So, how does this play out in our day? What should be our emphasis and goal as we share the Good News of God’s Kingdom established through Jesus?
It means that our focus is not on outward conformity but rather inward change.
In Romans, which is closely related to much of Paul’s argument in Galatians, the apostle makes this statement - “A person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart.” (Romans 2:28)
Compare this to what he says as he concludes his letter to the Galatians - “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule - to the Israel of God.” (Galatians 6:15-16)
In both these passages, Paul is answering the question, “Who are the covenant people?” Or, to put it another way, “Who are God’s people?” By redefining what it means to be circumcised, Jewish, and a citizen of Israel, he is driving home the truth that Christianity is not about outward appearance but inward change.
I’m going to stop here, in spite of the fact that there is so much more I could say. But what I’d like you to do now is take time to think of the many barriers that come between simple trust in Jesus and what it means to be a Christian.
Here are few to stimulate your thinking -
Does being a faithful follower of Jesus mean voting for a particular political party?
Does following Jesus mean limiting the music we listen to, the movies we watch, or the news stations we follow?
Can Roman Catholics be faithful followers of Christ?
Is the form of baptism a church, denomination, or person chooses to practice a sign of their commitment to God’s Kingdom?
What if a new Christian decides he or she is not interested in baptism? Can baptism, like circumcision, be inward and of the heart rather than outward and physical? (See Romans 2:28 above.)
As you contemplate these questions, I want you to remember the statement with which I began this post -
God, through His Son, Jesus, meets us where we are and leads us to where He is calling us to be.
And remember, the only barriers keeping people from God’s great family through Christ are the ones in their own hearts. And Jesus is the Master blaster when it comes to breaking those barriers down!
In Christ,
Dan
Check out my podcasts from Church on the Edge and my books on Kindle.
By the way, did you know that Rahab is in the genealogy of Jesus found in chapter one of Matthew’s gospel?