OUTSIDERS - Part 2
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations . . .
Matthew 28:19
Maybe you're thinking: OUTSIDERS again? How much more can we say about this?
Honestly, a lot more.
I've already written about the Samaritan woman who spoke to Jesus at the well. She invited a whole town to come meet Jesus, in spite of her story. I wrote about a widow from an enemy nation who fed one of God's prophets. Jesus told her story to Jews hundreds of years later. I also wrote about a captain of a conquering army who encountered God in the dirty waters of Israel's Jordan River. These were just a few stories of outsiders you'll come across in the bible.
This is where the bible gets personal. Name for me another topic that triggers feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, fear and inferiority. I can't think of one. In the bible, outsiders abound, and that's exactly the point. From Genesis to Revelation, the story is one of God making a way to get to outsiders. In Genesis 12:3, God Himself tells Abram, "In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
This one man is the first step in God building a bridge to a whole world of outsiders.
The rest of the bible is the story of how God does just that.
This is where the church gets personal. In church, I believe it is vital that we keep our focus on the people who aren't in, who don't feel at home in church. That is every believer's essential mission: to go reach those who don't feel like they belong. We must make a space that feels accessible to everyone so we (who are "in") can teach them about the Jesus who wants to get to know them.
Jesus keeps showing us that the people we call outsiders may be the very people He is drawing near to.
And when we realize we've been welcomed in, we're not meant to build a wall around belonging.
We're meant to make room for others.
The next step in the bridge God is building can be found in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Christians call this the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47-48, John 20:21) Let's dig in here for a minute.
Jesus tells His followers to GO. If we are Jesus's people, we have already claimed our eternity with Him. But that is only the beginning. He requires us to teach others about Him: that's what He means when He says to "make disciples." In order to do that, we have to know what story we are telling. We have to know Him. The best way to do that is to read about Him in the Bible. The second-best way is to tell our story. He is changing us (sanctifying us) even as we meet Him and get to know more about Him. When we tell the story about how we know Jesus, others around us get to meet Him, too.
That's where "the nations" of the Great Commission come in. These words sound vast and terrifying, but let's look at it like simplifying an algebra equation: what do you and the nations have in common? Someone else. If you tell someone and they meet Jesus, then they tell someone who meets Jesus, then they tell someone . . . The cycle doesn't break down. Eventually the story of Jesus ripples out to the nations.
Jesus is the thread that stitches the nations together.
If THAT sounds vast and terrifying, you can set your heart at ease with the knowledge that this story is not about you. The name of Jesus Christ will be made known in the world, whether you follow this command or not. It's going to be way more fun to be a part of it, though!
Have you ever heard of a guy from the Bible named Paul? Let's look at his story.
Paul was a fervent religious leader in Jerusalem and a member of a Jewish sect called the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a group of highly educated Bible scholars who studied scripiture deeply and in detail so that they could follow the rules set out there. They were zealous rule-followers and harshly criticized those who didn't also follow the rules. As a member of this movement, Paul was deply committed to defending Jewish law and traditions.
Paul first comes onto the bible scene in Acts 7 when Stephen, one of the first people chosen by Jesus's discipes to assist with this growing group of believers who would be called the Church, is being stoned to death.
Friends, Christians do not have a hard life in modern America.
Paul's story begins with being devoted to peresecuting the new believers in Jerusalem. Scripture tells us that he dragged men and women from their homes and put them in prison; a death sentence in most cases at the time.
Paul thought he was doing the right thing by stopping people who were talking about this man named Jesus who was killed on a cross. The people he was chasing down were telling others that Jesus was ALIVE. They were saying He was the Son of God, and that He had ACTUALLY died, He came back to life and He returned to heaven to be with God, His Father. Paul was convinced these were lies, turning people away from the truth of Judaism. To be honest, it still sounds far-fetched, so can we blame Paul?
In his pursuit of the early followers of Jesus, Paul made a trip to a city called Damascus. While on the road, Paul had a personal, face-to-face encounter with Jesus Chirst. This was significant enough that Paul's opinion of the early Christians was completely reversed, to the extent that he joined this group of first-century Jesus followers called The Way. As zealous as Paul used to be for the Pharisees, he was that and more about telling others about Jesus Christ.
Friends, Paul's conversion to The Way is the reason we are here talking about Jesus.
He was God's next step in reaching a group of outsiders called Gentiles.
That's us!
Paul was the ultimate insider: a Jew, exactingly religious, getting the people of The way off the streets.
In A SINGLE ENCOUNTER with Jesus Christ, everything changed for Paul.
He became an outsider to the Jews, but an insider to the Creator of all mankind.
I'm going to add myself to the list here.
I'm an insider.
I grew up in the church, the granddaughter of two preachers from West Virginia. I raised my kids in church. I still happily attend and serve at a church here in Naples.
But I'm also an outsider.
I was a pregnant teenager. I placed my daughter for adoption. I'm a woman who was divorced. I was a single mom for many years. All those things placed me at the margins of society, kept me isolated in shame and regret and taught me to build a shield around my fearful, broken heart.
I didn't open up. I didn't trust.
But God met me right were I was and worked to soften my heart toward others. He taught me gently that everyone hurts in the same ways I hurt. He led me one step at a time toward an understanding that if I want to be accepted, if I want to be an insider anywhere, I need to first try accepting others where they are.
When I began learning to tell my story (you guys read that blog, right?), I began to learn other people's stories, too. And I had a special gift from God that not everyone has: the knowledge of an insider.
That also means I have a special job: I have to show the outsiders that they are welcome here on the inside.
Which brings me to YOU.
I'm talking to you as an insider who has often felt like an outsider. That's my Great Commission.
The disciples received it.
Paul received it.
I received it.
Now you've received it.
Friends, it does not come easy to be vulnerable and open about my life, but I don't have to do that. I choose to do it to point you to the One who called me inside all along the way.
I know what it feels like to stand outside a room and wonder if I belong. God has given me a place where I feel at home, so I want to turn around and look for the person standing at the door.
If you are that person standing there, looking in, wondering whether you belong, let me help you find a place here.
If you want to come, I want to be the first to say, Welcome inside.
Who will you invite?
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