Today’s Reading: John 3-4
Optional Readings: John 2
Early Judean Ministry
Anthropologists and sociologists teach us that humans are hard-wired to a tribal way of organizing themselves. It’s a safety mechanism. We gather in groups and trust our group to protect us from other groups.
My family. My social network. My company. My local church. My country.
Us vs. them.
Some of this is by God’s design. These organizational units are necessary. For example, God tasks the family to care for those within it (1 Tim 5:8). He expects us to care for those in the household of faith as well (Gal 6:10).
For the Christian though, these tribes aren’t where we should remain. We know that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would have eternal life” (John 3:16, emphasis mine.) This might have been eye-opening to a Pharisee, who expected that only Israel would receive salvation. God’s perfect will is that these groupings would fade as all are brought to Himself.
Alas, we still live on this side of heaven. God knew we needed tribes, but look at how our pride and fear cause us to abuse this structure. In competition, John’s disciples point out that more people were going to Jesus’ disciples to be baptized than to them. In the next chapter, we see the Jews and the Samaritans, historically prejudiced against each other– Racism that Jesus overcame.
With what “tribes” do you identify? Has it ever caused you to assume less of those in other tribes? Do you ever find a competitive spirit within you? Have you ever been guilty of the sin of prejudice?
Our tribal mentality can challenge both of the two greatest commandments, to love God above all else and to love others as ourselves.
What happens if our tribe is at odds with our God? If we are ever forced to choose between following Christ or remaining loyal to any tribe, even family, we are to give up the tribe and choose Christ. This may be a difficult truth to fresh ears, but Jesus taught that our love for any human be so much less than our love for Him that it looks like hate by comparison.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
To hide the light of Christ from your tribe wouldn’t be loving anyway. Now take a breath; this choice is rarely necessary, at least in our culture. The family was instituted by God and is treasured by God. He wouldn’t choose to challenge the family, but the family may choose to challenge Him. We hear of Arab Christians forced to make this choice frequently.
Additionally, Jesus calls us to love everyone. This is one of the most radical things about Christianity. He calls us to love our enemies, those who make our lives difficult, those who speak badly of us, even those who may persecute or kill us. Love them anyway, intentionally and actively. When we can do this, it’s possible to see beyond any tribal boundaries.
Lastly, a word on church unity. I have seen the idea of church unity both weaponized to silence everyone and ignored to facilitate tribal arrogance. It’s a clearly Biblical idea that can easily be manipulated for selfish ends. So what should we think on this topic?
Have you ever seen a dance team (or the Partridge family!) line up in a vertical line so that each dancer is hidden behind the ones in front of her? If they all stand the same way, they look as one. It’s only when someone gets off track with the choreography that you can see the disunity in the group.
If Jesus’ followers all lined up behind Him, doing as He does, we would have genuine unity. It’s only when one of us gets off track that we see the inconsistency and have disunity.
Jesus, thank you for including me, a non-Jew, in your salvation plan! Thank you for the people and tribes you’ve put in my life. I want You to always be my first love, though. Give me courage, and help me to love everyone as You love. Amen.