Which team?

Every time the Olympics come around, we see athletes from one country competing for another. Core identities surface in surprising ways.

Lately, I have been reading Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25). People arrive together before the King, bearing one of many national flags. But soon, they are individually reorganized into one of two teams: sheep or goats. The sheep have already been with Jesus, caring for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. They will continue on with Jesus. The goats ⏤ GOATs ⏤ never saw themselves as part of that team. And never will for all eternity.

Accept It

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. — Deuteronomy 15:11

Jesus also said the poor would always be with us. So, is God saying, Just accept it and move on? World systems make poor people. Like Jesus, we accept the truth of that, but we don't accept Sin, its source. Instead, we resist and rectify all that we can until Jesus returns and finally sets everything right.

Corrosion

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9a

If I am being corroded by the environment, I have three options:

1. Apply paint. Guard myself against the elements and live a shielded life.

2. Go inside. Withdraw and live a solitary life.

3. Be made of better stuff. Show up ready and be who I've been made to be, completed by God's grace.