Drawing Lines


My five year old son really enjoys going to preschool.  He attends a Catholic school where his brother excelled and was well prepared for kindergarten and beyond.  We like the school and the teachers.  But we are Baptists, and we certainly don't adhere to all of the Catholic doctrine.  Being Baptist can we still support a Catholic school and send our kids there?  My feeling is that we can.  When did it become necessary to agree on everything for us to be friends?  If all our friends look and think and act like us, aren't we only being friends with ourselves?  Doesn't it then become a form of self love?  Scripture tells us to love those who don't like us, and even though who hate us and consider us enemies.  It's hard to imagine loving those who hate you.  We live in a culture where everyone wants to be liked.  There are people who get upset that not enough people, "like" their pictures on Facebook.  It's silly, but true.  We all want to be liked, but can we like people that are unlike us.  Can we like the person who abuses drugs and alcohol?  Can we be at least friendly to the person who made mistakes and hasn't learned from them?  Do we help someone whom we've helped before, but keeps coming back again?  Where do we draw the line?

This is why the gospel is so challenging.  Jesus didn't draw lines... but He was Jesus.  We all have our limits, Jesus was limitless.  My goal is to be more like Jesus and so what if I get taken advantage of.  Jesus says if we get persecuted for the Gospel, we are blessed.  Some people are quick to draw lines and exclude others.  We live in  an age where some want to exclude refugees, who don't want to help the poor, who will only compromise within their own political parties.  It's a sad day in America when we keep drawing lines to keep people out.    If we are serious about being more like Jesus, we need to erase the lines in our society.  We can't pigeon hold people, Catholic or Protestant, rich or poor, educated or not.  If we only love those who love us, what benefit is that for us?  I challenge you to erase the lines in your heart, erase the divisions in your mind.  Make friends with people you disagree with.  Be kind to those who upset you, and who you think are ignorant of the truth.  Pray for them yes, but come to terms with this concept of loving enemies.  Then consider this... we were enemies of God before Jesus.

Peace.

Pastor Bunyan