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May 5, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Included!, by Phil Ware
I don't belong. I wasn't included by birthright. I have no racial claim
to be a part. I was on the outside, lost and alone, a foreigner without
hope (Ephesians 2:11-13).
I didn't even know the language of my original family, so others
carefully translated all of our family documents so I could know the
good news that I was chosen. I am included only because I was grafted
into the family tree, made a part only because of my older brother's
sacrifices and my Father's mercy (Titus 3:3-7).
I have this family only because I was adopted by the kindness of my
Father when I truly believed the good story about His love shown to me
through His Son and was adopted into the family (Galatians 3:26-29).
But now, I am a royal child of the King, with the special charge of
sharing my good story with others so they can know they belong (1 Peter
2:9-10).
Why do I share my confession about being on the outside, without God's
grace, with you? Because in all likelihood, it is your story, too! You
see this is the truth we so often forget: that we were all on the
outside without the grace of adoption, without the Scriptures in our
own language, and someone to share the story with us in a way we can
understand. This was powerfully demonstrated in a negative way
recently.
A person who was reading Heartlight.org left a response for us when
they learned that we also have a website in Spanish. (Actually, we have
3 sites in Portuguese, 1 in Spanish, and sites in German, Russian, and
Dutch currently under development. Our sites reach hundreds of
thousands of people each month in more than 175 countries. And we
provide this all free because of the kind support of our friends.) This
person was infuriated that we would offer our services in anything but
English. This is what this person said:
I just noticed that you now have the sites in Spanish. Why are we
doing this? This is the United States of America and we speak
English. People are welcome here, but they need to learn our
language instead of us giving in to them and providing Spanish. My
ancestors had to learn the language before they left Ellis Island.
We can't bend every time something like this comes up. We are not
helping the problem when we provide these kinds of things.
This response saddened me. These words, however, jarred me out of my
own attitude of entitlement toward the grace of God and reminded me of
these basic truths:
* I am a Gentile and was not part of God's covenant with Abraham by
race or birthright. (Ephesians 2:11-12; 1 Peter 2:10)
Let's never forget!
* I was lost even if I was a part of Abraham's family by race,
because my sin had separated me from God and I was without Jesus'
gift of grace. (Romans 5:6-11)
* I am included, adopted, and grafted in because of my faith and the
adoption service of my baptism, brought into God's family through
the work of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 11:17-24; Titus 3:3-7; John
3:3-7; Galatians 3:26-29)
* I would not have known the good news of God's salvation if someone
hadn't taken seriously Jesus' "Great Commission" to reach all
nations. (Matthew 28:18-20)
* My future joy in the presence of God and in praise to Jesus with
others from every nation, people, tribe, and language is the result
of Jesus' dream coming true. (Revelation 7:9-12)
* I would not have known any of this good news if someone hadn't
translated the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek of the Bible into my own
language.
So let's never forget ... let's never get so caught up in the politics
of race or language ... let's never get so worried about
self-preservation that we forget that all "those people" -- the
foreigners and the folks who speak a different language and who have a
different culture and a different shade of skin tone -- are really us.
Without grace from God and the kindness of someone different than we
are to share this grace with us, we would be lost, left out, and alien
to all God has done for us in Jesus. How can we not share this with
every person ... of every shade and language and culture and national
origin?
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So what do you think of today's article?
How would you have reacted to the message left by the person who was
angry we were providing parallel resources in Spanish?
Do you ever think about being an outsider to God's promises unless the
Father had extended grace to us?
Are you a child of Abraham by physical descent? How do you feel about
Gentile Christians?
I'd love to hear from you on my blog:
http://www.thephilfiles.com/2008/05/05/included
---------
(c) 2008 Phil Ware <phil@heartlight.org>. All rights reserved.
RELATED LINKS:
* Tearing Down the Walls
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200704/20070416_thewall.html
* Blinded by Religious Prejudice
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/0425-wjd.html
* Sausage over Souls
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200610/20061027_sausage.html
* Southern Hills Church of Christ
http://www.southernhillschurch.org
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200805/20080505_included.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
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