Not an Option

Originally posted: January 18, 2011 

   Yesterday, our nation celebrated Martin Luther King’s Day. As a result, I spent some of my time reflecting on his legacy and trying to understand what the atmosphere of that era must’ve been like. You may think what you want about the man, but there’s no denying how successful he was in his public protests against civil rights violations without firing one shot or giving in to fears.

   Furthermore, I freely admit that I’ve never seen someone hit or have ever been hit myself with a water cannon. I’ve not witnessed a group of people get screamed at and pushed around simply because of the color of their skin. And I’ve not seen someone turned away with threats of violence at a voting booth either.    

   It’s not that I’ve lived a sheltered life, but it’s because this battle was waged before my time and for the most part, had been successfully won in the United States. Now, I’m not naïve to the fact that racism still exists today and that there is still a need to promote respect and fairness for all people. But even if this is taught and believed in by the majority of Americans, it’s still possible to be a citizen of the U.S. and still hate those who don’t look like, think like, or act like you. Some would argue that it’s their right.

   But I do want to clarify that this was never an issue in God’s Church, and it never will be. There's no choice in how we treat others when it comes to their appearance or social status. Paul reminds us of this fact when we read:

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body [The Church]—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit...” 1 Corinthians 12:13 NIV 

   The Church of God is comprised of all people who confess their sins to God and accept Jesus’ sacrifice for those sins; and are now walking in a personal relationship with Him. We who fit these qualifications are part of God’s One (Universal) Church.

   Now, most who have been a part of a Christian church at some time in their lives understand these points that I’ve listed. But there appears to me another qualifier that is overlooked by many who confess Christ as Savior.

  “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”  -1 John 4:20-21 NIV

   You cannot call yourself a follower of God and hate those who are made in the image of God. Irrespective of how people look, act, smell, or think, they matter to God. And as a result, we don’t have a right to demean or devalue them.

   We may live in a world that puts a price tag on people, or judges their worth by their abilities, or what family their born in to. But in the church, we don’t have that option.

  Our forefathers got it right when they penned in the Declaration of Independence, “…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

    If you want to be a part of God's true Church, you have no choice but to love all people.

Jesus came to set all of those oppressed by sin free so I say ‘let freedom ring!’