Our world is so divided. Creation groans with disease, cosmic powers over this present darkness perpetuate injustice, and the devil schemes in the middle of it all (Rom. 8:22, Eph. 6:12). Just watch the news, and you will see why he is called the deceiver: who do you believe (Rev. 12:9)? Scroll through social media, and you will see why he is called the accuser: who is to blame (Rev. 12:10)? Paul became “all things to all people” that he might save some (I Cor. 9:22). Yet, how do we do that when something as simple as wearing a mask turns some away (“You’re being controlled”) but not wearing one alienates more (“You don’t love your neighbor”)? Confronted with so many divisions, what is the church to do?
We preach Jesus. We recognize that disease, racism, and even tyranny are all from sin, which separates, alienates, and estranges, leaving people with “no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). When Satan baits us with deception (“is the pandemic really that bad?”) or blame (“no, you’re racist”), we refuse to bite. Because we know there is a problem: people are dying. They are dying while “far off” from God. So, instead of arguing over whether their deaths are like the flu or because they resisted arrest, we focus on the blood Christ shed so that all might be “brought near” (Eph. 2:13).
We preach Jesus. Because that is not a substitute for science or an excuse to ignore social justice. The gospel not only brings us near to God: it brings us near to each other. “For he is himself our peace, who has made us both one and broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Eph. 2:14-16). In Paul’s day, this meant bringing together Jew and Gentile. Take your pick as to the hostility needing killed today.
But know this: preach Jesus, and you will care about stopping the spread of illness because you want to bring people near. Preach Jesus, and instead of condescendingly dismissing those fearing tyranny, you will invite them to live as free people under Christ’s reign. Preach Jesus, and you will look people in the eye and say, “Your life matters.” Preach Jesus, and divided people will be reconciled in His body: because that is the gospel.
Ready to learn from Jesus and His apostles how to be truly united? Check out our sermon series “That They May Be One”.