On Acceptance

One of our junior high Sunday school teachers came up today to prepare for the lesson they will be doing this weekend. (Side note, I am so thankful for faithful servants to serve alongside.) He wrote this on the board.

The idea conveyed in the Acts passage about 'acceptance' has been slamming me in the face recently. 

I listened to a podcast called The Liturgists that was about church unity. The panel spoke about what unites us and how compelled we are to be united, to belong, to be accepted. Please check it out here if you have an hour to spare. It is well worth your time.

Then yesterday I took our eldest to see Dolphin Tale 2 because he had seen a commercial on television. The movie starts and finishes discussing how elaborate the brain of a dolphin is, much like ours as humans. The plot line is all about the attempt to bring two dolphins into acceptance of one another. No spoilers here, you will have to watch it yourself to see if it works out in the end.

We, as human beings, long to be accepted, to find our place and our tribe. This plays out in a lot of ways. Race, gender, culture, economic status, sports teams, religion, and nearly any other way can think of to describe ourselves. We simply want to belong.

When we do not believe that we 'fit in', the consequences can be severe. We react poorly and make bad decisions based upon the perceived 'other' and the threat they possess. In our weak moments, we rally ourselves around a common enemy which I believe to be a negative alternative and one most often driven by fear. We have to resist the temptation to demonize the 'other' simply because they do not fit into our tribe or group.

Instead, I believe when we are at our best, we understand that, like God, we are not suppose to show partiality because someone is different from us, that we are in this thing called life together. And listen, I understand the hesitation. I understand the pushback. "But preacher, what if that person doesn't believe in God like I do or lives their faith like I do or lives a life in sin or doesn't even acknowledge God? What then?" Well, I'm not completely sure.

But here is what I know. I am not to harm them. I am to do good to them. I am to attempt to understand them. I am ultimately to allow God to do God's thing in their life. The clearest revelation of God that I am aware of is love. So yes, I am to love them too. And I think that would go a long way to bringing about acceptance just as we experience acceptance by God.