Who Are Your Brothers and Sisters? – by Eliezer Gonzalez

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Feb 9, 2016 3736

We have a natural human tendency to categorise everything, as true or false, good or bad, and yours or mine. And the worst thing we do with that is to build walls between others and ourselves.

We build walls between our family and other people. We build walls between people of our church and people who belong to another church. We look after our own. Jesus taught that in the Kingdom life, it must not be like that.

For those who have entered the family of God, Jesus said,

“Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” – Matthew 12:48

In the same gospel, do you remember what Jesus said was the greatest commandment of all?

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” – Matt. 22:37–40.

Here is a revolutionary truth for some professed Christ-followers: that no matter whether we are Pentecostal, Reformed, Pentecostal, Catholic, non-denominational, or even Calathumpian, all those who love Christ are our brothers and sisters.

Christ never made total uniformity in doctrinal understanding or perfect faith to be the criteria for being his disciple. If so, none of the original twelve would have made it. Rather he said that the criterion was love (John 13:35). And the love of God does not exalt or puff itself up (1 Cor. 13:4), so all those who share the love of God will never consider themselves closer to God or more favoured by him than those who belong to another Christian group.

Of course, there is revealed, Biblical truth that we must grow into. Of course, each of us should fellowship in a Christian church according to our understanding of that truth as found in the Word, and as the Spirit of God convicts our conscience. But let us do that as true Christians, as children of our heavenly Father, and as brothers and sisters of all who share his love.

– Eliezer Gonzalez