Jim and I heard someone say “We have become so open-minded, our brains have fallen out”. We had a good laugh. But what are we so open minded about? There is still debate about equality of the races, equality between men and women in the workplace, even on the subject of who may join our churches, and who is worthy to receive our charitable acts.
While Paul set out some pretty defined do’s and don’t’s about the way Christians should act, Jesus covered all Paul’s strict decrees with a softness that made room for the amazing array of human conditions in God’s creation.
What Jesus gave as the first and most important commandment trumps all the “wear-a-hat-in-church” rules: Love God above all and love your neighbor as yourself. Strangely, some look at that statement and see “love those neighbors who are like yourself.”
To be fair, strict religious dictates were the norm at the time of Jesus. And Peter, along with other disciples, had his own fairly rigid ideas about who should be allowed to join the early Church (namely converted Jews). But he was about to be taken to school.
In Acts 11, Peter stumbles upon a Gentile (a nice word for heathen) named Cornelius and his household with whom he shared the Good News, and who became followers of Christ. But the other disciples and Jewish converts who thought this Christianity thing should be an exclusive club were angry and challenged him, demanding answers. (Acts 11:3) “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”
But God (evidently tiring of the small-mindedness*) responded three times saying: “You must stop calling common what God has made clean.” (Acts 11:9) Get it? Everyone who accepts Him is made clean. Everyone has value and has been given the same gifts of the Spirit. This “club” is to be one with big open doors, welcoming saint and sinner alike into the presence of and partnership with Jesus Christ—no bouncers required, nobody checks I.D.s.
Even Christ’s disciples were not clear on this point, so we can certainly forgive those who get confused today. But as Acts 11 makes clear, it doesn’t matter what we think, or your pastor thinks, or what all your friends think. Everyone who accepts Christ has been made clean. The voice of Almighty God has decided it. You’re in. We are all in.
There is not one person you will pass today—not one—that God views as common or unworthy. Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world and sees each of us as “uncommonly” valuable.
John Wesley famously said: “You have one business on earth, to save souls.” There is no hierarchy of sin and we all continually fall short. Closed doors are not an option.
Blessings,
Nancy
*Read the whole chapter for yourself!
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