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12 …remember that you were at that time without Christ…13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

The apostle Paul is writing a very heartfelt letter to a congregation in Ephesus and is desperately trying to make sure that this congregation understands the wonderful gift that God has given them. Paul presses the point that a faith in Christ means they have been “adopted” into the Kingdom of God. A risen savior, Jesus, rules this new kingdom. God has knocked down the walls that divided Jews and gentiles.

However, as I write this brief piece, Christian denominations seem to be working overtime to divide the “family” that God has created. Christians, along with most all people in this country, seem hell-bent (quite literally, I believe) on finding things in the “family” that are divisive. Using gender, age, etc. to draw lines between who is in and who is out. It seems to be a big part of the human condition. “Let us find those who are like us, and get rid of those who are not!” We are often too busy finding reasons to exclude people, to be able to “adopt” people into the Church.

One might exclaim, “Are there not lines! Are we not to be holy?” Indeed, there are lines. Jesus himself outlined the “greatest” of those lines in one sentence, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Seems the real lines are wrapped up in love, not hate.

How do we become the “new humanity” that Paul writes about? Jesus’ commission of love it easily said, but very difficult to constantly follow. Many may say impossible! Yet it is the yardstick, at least for Christians, for which we should strive. Too many times, I have been caught up in not being loving, and rather reverting to categorizing others as “in or out”. For these times, a deeply felt plea for forgiveness and perhaps an apology, can reinforce and “retrain” our brains. 

I know it sounds like a lot of work. Yet, when we remember that God gave us everything, emptying God’s self in Jesus so that we could be one loving family, perhaps not too much work.

Keith Leach is Pastor of College Church and College Chaplain at Hampden-Sydney College. He can be reached at kleach@hsc.edu.