I wanted to start today’s blog with a question. 

How welcoming and accepting of others are we as a church?

Now, I want to think that we are pretty welcoming and accepting here at Osceola Grace, and I hope that we are. But I know this: We cannot experience real Christian community without the ability to accept one another. So, let’s spend some time right now and look at the command in the Bible to accept each other, and come to understand what it means to do so, and then let’s examine ourselves to see if there isn't some room in our hearts and lives for some growth in this area.

Romans 15:7 says, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (NIV)

The key word is “accept” in this passage. When I looked this up in the Greek language, it’s the word “proslamban”. It means “to receive kindly or hospitably” and “to treat with kindness”. It means “to welcome” in the broadest sense. It means “to receive wholeheartedly, to warmly welcome to yourself, to grant admission into your heart, to look beyond anything superficial and to be willing and open to build relationships.”

In other words, “acceptance” means to welcome someone who is different from you. Can we not only tolerate people, but extend the holiest sense of grace to them? Can we express a resilient and abiding meekness to others even in the presence of that which is distasteful and offensive? Can we do that?

The key phrase for understanding and practicing this command is the phrase, “just as Christ accepted you.” Christ is our standard – we are to accept others just as He accepted us. And how did Christ accept us? Well, according to Romans 5:8 the Bible says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It was and is Jesus’ nature to love the unlovable. His loving acceptance is able to distinguish who we are from what we have done. Even in our sin, we are still the objects of His love.

This is my prayer; that as we become, more and more, the church we ought to be, the world will notice. When they walk into our fellowship, they will sense that something is different here, and they will go home thinking, “I want what they have; I want to be a part of what is going on there.” They will go home praising God, saying that God is in that place; God is among those folks.

• Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn. 13:34-35)
• Jesus said, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”(Jn. 17:23)

When people know that God loves them, because we love them, then they will bring praise to God.

Dr. Larry Crabb, in his book Connecting, wrote that we experience God’s power to heal souls through our compassionate, authentic relationships with others. Crabb wrote, “What every Christian can pour into another is the powerful passion of acceptance, a passion that flows out of the center of the gospel, a passion that fills the heart of God.” 

Wow...now that’s powerful! 

So now… let’s talk about the application – how do we go about doing that. Who is the “one another” that we are to be accepting? What is it that makes it difficult for us to accept one another? I would like to suggest that the “who” we are to accept includes both non-Christians and Christians, and the “what makes it difficult to accept” includes prejudice and legalism, or judgmentalism. I have to admit…I struggle with some of those areas from time to time in my own life. As I yield these areas of my life to the Holy Spirit; He has, and still is, making drastic changes in my life.

As I read God’s Word, he reminds me that it doesn't matter who people are, where they are from, or what they have done. It shouldn't matter to us whether a person is rich or poor, or is educated or uneducated. It shouldn't matter what is the color of their skin, or the country or culture they come from. Nothing about their appearance should matter to us – tall or short, thick or thin, good looking or other looking, handicapped or not, tattoo covered, pierced, you name it. You say, “Pastor Dave, what about those who have been in trouble with the law, or who were in prison, or who carry the label of sex-offender, or have same sex attractions, those struggling with addictions – are they welcome?” They will be if we want to be like Jesus. Jesus didn't say, “Get your life right and then follow me.” He just said, “Follow me.” He said that to the tax collector, the prostitute, and even those who had been filled with demons. 

Here’s the important key; to learn to accept one another is to attempt to relate to each person as if they are Jesus. To seek to treat them the way we would treat Jesus himself. After all, Jesus said, 

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me…whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Mt. 25:40, 45)

May God enable us to grow into a real Christian community that truly accepts one another as Christ has accepted us to the glory of God!

Just a thought, not a sermon!

Blessings for today!

Your Care Pastor,

Dave Knight