Nobody Fits the Mold

Have you ever thought about how much diversity surrounded Jesus in the Gospels? It's really astonishing. Jews who believed the way forward was through politics. Jews who believed the way forward was through religious obedience. Women who were wealthy landowners. Women who were enslaved to prostitution just to survive. The educated. The uneducated. They spanned geography and culture: Greek, Syrophoenician, Roman, Judean, Samaritan. Young and old. Enemies of the state and friends of the state. Enemies of the religious establishment and friends of it. You can't pin down one way of being to those who chose to follow Jesus. They came from everywhere. They were everyone.

And yet today, we want to fashion belief and adherence into the mold of a particular brand of faith. That's unfortunate. We spend too much time defending our camp against their camp instead of choosing to be the way of Jesus to those around us.

I'm just saying: maybe stop getting worked up about what people look like, believe, and think. Start focusing on the impact you're making, in the light of Jesus, on those around you.

This week, choose TOV. Let God handle the rest.