I remember going into the high school cafeteria my freshman
year and having know idea who I was going to sit with. In elementary school I
attended Maplewood, 98 percent of the school went to Gardner for middle school,
I went to Dwight Rich. Now I am going to Everett and 98 percent of people went
to Sexton. Once again I found myself in an uncomfortable position, seeing a
room full of people and not knowing a soul. What was I going to do?
I was not outgoing enough then to sit and strike up a
conversation with anyone instead I was quiet and reserved. Finally I had a
glimmer of hope, I find my friends David and Joseph. We weren’t extremely
close, but we were still friends. They had a group of people they were already
sitting beside and I went up and asked if I could sit with them. Even with new
friends and family around them, they invited and allowed me to sit with them. I
am thankful for that. Honestly, I would have felt so uncomfortable to sit with
strangers as a freshman in high school just like I did with middle school.
Being left out is never fun. It’s worse when you are the one
left out. Faith in Jesus is supposed to unite people, rich/poor,
black/white/Asian or whatever cultural background you come from. Yet people had
to deal with a lunch room situation in Galatians 2:11-21. Certain Christian
came from a Jewish background while others came from a Gentile background (No
faith). Paul comes up to a situation in which certain people were sitting with
only their group of people and not associating themselves with other people.
Yet Paul wouldn’t just watch this happen, Galatians 2:14:15…
“When I saw that they were not acting in
line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them
all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it,
then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15 “We
who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a
person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by
faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the
law no one will be justified.”
Paul wouldn’t allow separation to occur among Christians. He
called them out in front of the whole group. Jesus died for us and therefore
the past is in the past and we are moving forward together because of Jesus.
This is why I love the Paul and the Gospel, it’s not about us. Even though it
happen, the church should be free of clique’s. Paul address this. We as
believers in Christ are called to come together, unite with one another and be
a blessing to other people. I love the church, as messed up as it can be sometimes
(We are all sinners). There is no other place that can bring people together
for one common goal and it’s not like a country club, it’s a place for
everyone.
I cherish my friends Joseph and David. I am thankful for
their friendship when we were younger and I love being able to keep up with
these guys on social media. When you look at your own life, do you separate
yourself from others? Do you cause division or bring people closer together?
Jesus brought a ton of different people together and living for him requires us
to do the same.
