The Burning Heart

East vs. West. North vs. South. Axis vs. Allies. My team vs. your team. New vs. Old. Us vs. Them. It’s a tale as old as time. We pick sides. We create division. Humanity has been extremely good at creating lines in the sand. History has proven that time and again. Within the church, it’s become an epidemic. We create division lines around seating charts, preference, trends based on data. And every time we hit a fever pitch, some sort of rift occurs within the community of faith. Our dividing lines, whether they be from denominational ties or stylistic preference, have the potential of creating real division within the body of Christ that only pulls us further and further away from the mission we’ve been given. President Ronald Reagan once said that Harmony requires differences to be joined in pursuit of higher ideals. If we seek to bring the church together, it requires a harmony that goes beyond what we’ve accepted up until this point in history.

The apostle Paul once wrote, So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:26-29 NIV). The reality is that there is an “us”. There is a “them”. But it doesn’t exist as we’ve used it before. Us vs. them isn’t a weapon to keep those we don’t want in the circle away. According to Scripture, “us” is everyone who’s heard and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ and “them” are all those who haven’t yet. And the key word there is yet. It’s a reframing of our thinking to go beyond our own comfort and preference to have a heart burning to share the gospel message. To give and share the experience we’ve had since salvation with someone else.

Jesus told His disciples to go and share the gospel. To be witnesses to the whole world. Beginning at the places that were close to us. As believers, we are heirs to the kingdom of God as was promised to Abraham. We’ve been given something wonderful. And we’re called to stop drawing lines in the sand. To stop creating things that divide us and them. But to pursue the highest ideal before us. To reach the lost. To share all that we’ve seen, heard, and experienced in faith. To have a burning heart filled with the love of Jesus Christ that’s set to go and share His message with the world.