Racial Reconciliation: Devotions From Time Of GraceSample

Accept people not like you

The congregation in Rome must have been very diverse, as diverse as the huge metropolitan area in which it was formed. In the long list of people whom Paul greeted by name in the last chapter of his letter to them are found Hebrew, Greek, and Latin names, men and women leaders, travelers and locals. There would have been both slaves and freemen in the congregation. When left to themselves, people always clump together with those just like them, so there needed to be extra glue added to the mix to bring and keep people together.

That’s why Paul found it necessary to state some important things that should have been obvious but weren’t: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7). The gaps that seem to separate people of different races, languages, geographical regions, cultures, ages, economic and social classes, and genders are nothing compared to the enormous gap between a holy God and his sinful ex-children.

Christ solved that problem by coming to earth in person and becoming not just like us but one of us. His incarnation bonded him to us forever. In that way he was able to represent us as our holy Substitute before the Father, bringing us the holiness and righteousness we could never earn. In that way he also demonstrated for us how to treat people not like us--with respect, love, and acceptance.

How accepting is your congregation?