That person belongs to Jesus too????

Reflecting on Mark 3:31-35

“Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” (Mark 3:18-19)
As a Jesus follower, I belong to a strange community of Jesus followers.
Two people in particular, Simon and Judas, make this clear to me.

Simon is a Zealot, a radical Jew known for violence and rebellion.
The Zealots hated the Romans, and all who worked for them (soldiers, tax collectors).
He would be a fundamentalist, an extremist, a militant nationalist.
Can you imagine Simon and Matthew having to work together?
Can you imagine belonging to a church with contemporary versions of these?

And then there is Judas – a nice guy really, and good with money.
He was one of the guys, he blended in and no one knew he was a traitor.
Can you imagine someone like this in your church?
Its hard to imagine, because they’re all so nice, and gifted too.

How could this motley crew of Jesus followers stay and work together?
The only reason I can see is that their hope in Jesus was stronger.
Their connection to Jesus was stronger than there disconnection to others.
They saw how Jesus worked with the others, and figured it was part of the plan.
I am sure they didn’t like it, and struggled to be nice to the others.
But they also noticed Jesus challenging the others, even as He challenged them.
Jesus urged ALL of them to be humble and gracious to one another.

This first group of disciples was learning about God’s grace in action.
They were being urged to treat others as they themselves needed to be treated.
With grace!
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.” (Romans 15:7)
It was this gracious love that marked this group as Jesus followers (John 13:35).
And this is how you should be able to recognize Jesus followers today…

But wait a minute, remember that these disciples didn’t get it right away.
They stumbled, they struggled, they elevated themselves and put others down.
They were not a perfect love community, they were unreliable misfits.
It was not their love for each other that marked them.
It was Jesus’s love for them, and their love for Jesus.
It took a long time for them to see that this meant love for one another.
And church history shows that we still do not get it.

Which is why, as frustrated as I am with the church and christianity, I can’t quit.
It is my connection to Jesus that keeps me from disconnecting from others.
I’m stuck with them, and they’re stuck with me – as long as were sticking to Jesus.
I belong to a group that includes fundamentalists, extremists, militant nationalists.
I belong to a group that includes ‘shiny happy’ Judas’s too.
And I belong to a group that lets me belong too.
The one Church of Jesus is a great big ‘grace family’.
Despite our divisions and separations, there is only one Church.
I may refuse to acknowledge the presence of others, but they belong too.
Together we are being trained to love like Jesus loves us.

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

We’re slow learners, we stumble and struggle and mess it up often.
But still the Spirit calls us, and compels us, and convicts us.
Like it or not, I belong to Jesus’s ‘Church’, with all these other misfits.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, they belong to You and I belong to You. Therefore as hard as it is to accept, we belong to each other. Help me to love others like You have loved me, to accept others as You have accepted me.

May our exercise of humble, gracious love show the world that there is a better way. Your Way.