What Differences Do You See?

We look at each other and see differences. It is our nature to divide ourselves according to the differences we perceive. We are so good at it … unfortunately. When was the last time you met someone and thought about how you were alike rather than how you were different?

While how we see each other is important, how God sees us is of ultimate significance. How He sees us determines how we really are versus what we think we are. How, then does He see us? In today’s Scripture passage, Paul speaks of how God has eliminated divisions between us–between Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. This is how He sees us.

By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe–Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise. In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. (Gal 3:26-28 MSG)

This is what we think we are supposed to say. But do we believe it? Based on our actions … no. What we do is find ways to divide ourselves. All the divisions and versions of Christianity out there arguing, fighting, and vilifying each other make this clear. We are not unified but divided!

So, let’s bottom line this: To be divided is to be in disagreement with God. And the simplest definition of sin is what? It is anything that is in disagreement with God.

So, there you have it. What, then, can we do about it? We must first accept that the ways we divide ourselves are not in agreement with God. This does not mean that we will all agree. We will not–not in this life. But because we do not agree does not mean that we are doomed to be divided. You and I can disagree and still be in unity in our relationship with God.

Next, we must become aware of the divisions we create with other Believers. Change begins with awareness. Becoming aware is a step to change. Learn to recognize division when it presents itself and be determined to overcome it.

Divisive thinking is like a stronghold (an ingrained pattern of thinking): It must be demolished, torn down, and destroyed the same way it was constructed. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have the divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor 10:3-5 NIV)

The destruction of a stronghold will not be an event; it will be a process–and a long one at that. Be prepared to work on it for a long time. You will gain ground; you will lose ground. Eventually, with intention and perseverance, you will overcome it. There is no other way.

Finally, set your intention to see your brothers and sisters in Christ as just that. You are connected. More than that, you are one with them. If each of us is one in Jesus (John 17), then we are also one with each other. We are still individuals, just as Jesus was the individual who walked this planet two thousand years ago. He was, however, simultaneously one with His Father and one with the Holy Spirit.

I know it is a mind-twister, but we must reckon it to be the same with us. To hurt (by division or otherwise) a fellow Believer is to hurt Jesus in them. It is a sin because it is in disagreement with God. Ask Him for greater discernment to see this. Once you do, it will transform your thinking and your life.

The key to all of this is LOVE. Love is not divided (1 Cor 13). God is not divided (John 17:11). If we are to be like Him in truth more than in empty words, we cannot be divided. John writes, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18 NIV)

Are you willing to do this? FYI: It’s not optional.