We Are
Peculiar People
As is often
said by God’s chosen people, “We’re in this world but not of it.” Jesus quoted
this during His discourse to His disciples in the Gospel according to St. John
and it has been adopted by His followers of every generation.
Let’s take a
look at the meaning of this statement. Jesus told his disciples “If you wish to
enter heaven you must humble yourself as a child. He told them elsewhere to be
of good cheer, they have overcome the world because He overcame. In other words
as John said in 1 John, “4 You are of
God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is
greater than he who is in the world. 5 They
are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world
hears them. 6 We are of God. He
who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know
the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”-1 John 4:4-6.
We do not see as the world sees. Everything we see in the right way the
world sees as upside down. For example, imagine that Jesus saved the criminal before
he got on the cross. How do you think others of his day would perceive or receive
him. Would he be seen or treated any different by the world than that he is a
criminal.
Saul was viewed and proven to be a persecutor of Christians of his time.
He was in the world and before he got “saved” he viewed things the way the
world of his time viewed it. The world saw him as a hero of his day ridding the
world of what they viewed as a sect or cult because these Jesus followers were
worshipping a “man” as God.
When Saul was exposed to “the truth” on the Damascus road and was made
free, he then saw clearly as we Christians see today. His journey on the right
road had just began but was more confusing to many than was needed. You see,
Jesus called one Ananias (by himself) and commanded him to go and lay his hands
on Saul, now Paul, so he would receive his sight and start on the journey
God/Jesus had for him because (and I just love this statement) he (Paul) is a chosen vessel of God.
How many accepted Paul as a brother during his initial stages as a
follower of Jesus Christ, a Christian?
Today we do not know who in this world are the people God foreknew and
predestinated. For whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover
whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also
justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Rom. 8:29-30).
We are
told to treat everyone the same not knowing who will eventually accept Jesus
Christ and become a Christian. Even the person on death row in prison
should be treated just as the president of the country he’s imprisoned in.
Jesus taught us that if we want to be like him and portray him to others in
this world we have to love everyone in the same way. Love your neighbor as
yourself. And who is our neighbor?
We are in this world but not of this world therefore we must never reject
anyone in this world and treat them different as the world does. Everyone is a
brother or a sister potentially.
Most times when treated differently by society, most individuals are just
putting up a defense to look tough but deep down inside they want to be
accepted like everyone else. It is up to God’s children to let these people
know they are loved very much. It is at that moment they are ready to receive
the God who created them to be here for His purpose.
Once they’ve discovered “the truth,” desperate people are ready to be of
some value and to fulfill their God given purpose with a determination
described by a famous evangelist as a “bulldog faith.” One songwriter describes
the whole scenario as “Jesus took me by the hand and I won’t let go!”
The next time you’re told anything about someone by anybody, you ask
them, “That’s your report, but what does Jesus say about this person?” My
question to all my brothers and sisters with doubts and questions after reading
this article is, “WHOSE REPORT WILL YOU
BELIEVE?”
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