We face many different types of dissent in our daily living. Often, the workplace is a prime target for backbiting and unhappy people. If there isn't a strong relationship with our co-workers, it can be hard to enjoy the job. If the supervisors don't present an open and honest environment, unnecessary competition takes over and tensions escalate.
Unrest of any kind is detrimental to the well-being of its people, its members. It is the workplace, the family unit, even the neighborhood. We aren't always going to agree, but we can still get along and even respect each other's point of view.
We find Paul in jail, a "prisoner in chains for Christ," as he calls himself. The conflict in our text today is between believers and politicians - sound familiar? Paul had been arrested because he took a stand for the equality of Jews and Gentiles as Christians. The Jewish leaders saw this as radical and destructive so they imprisoned him.
God got a hold of Paul and revealed that Jesus Christ truly was the promised Messiah of the Jews and a light to the Gentiles, thus ending the life Paul lived before. The life of persecution and hatred. In a flash of light, God changed Paul's life and therefore yours and mine too.
Paul's conflict wasn't with the followers of Jesus any longer, but with the religious leaders whose mission it was to put an end to them. Once God gets a hold of us, we are changed too. Any conflict we have with our Christians brothers and sisters must be dealt with head on, with honesty and love. That is what separates us from the rest of the world.
Like the lyrics to the song go:
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love
We will work with each other, we will work side by side...etc.
Ephesians 3:1-6
No comments:
Post a Comment