WHAT GOD HAS MADE CLEAN (5 OF 12)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-13
This content is part of a series.
What God Has Made Clean (5 of 12)
Series: Unlocking The Mystery
Jeff Strite
Ephesians 3:1-13
In Acts 10, we're told the story of the first Gentiles who became Christians. God sent Peter to do preach to them and baptize them... but because Peter wouldn't have done that on his own. God gave Him this instruction: ''What God has made clean, do not call common.'' Acts 10:15
About 100 years ago, Mahatma Ghandi was a student in India and became interested in the Bible. After reading the gospels he was deeply touched and seriously considered becoming a Christian. Now, in India, the society was divided up into a caste system where those in LOWER castes were generally segregated and looked down on by higher castes Ghandi had experienced that kind of bigotry and felt Christianity offered a solution to that.
So, one Sunday he went to a church wanting to learn how to become a Christian and to learn what the Bible taught. But when he got there, the ushers refused to seat him and they suggested that he go and worship with his OWN PEOPLE. He left and never went back. He said: ''If Christians have caste differences also, I might as well remain a Hindu.''
I recently had a FB conversation with a woman who had been born in India. She was telling me some of her friends (here in States) who experienced rejection in church because they were from India and it hurt my friend because that had been HER church and she had thought very highly of it.
In my reply, I explained to her that - in this congregation that I serve now - we don't allow racism to exist. But then I explained: ''bigotry can show up in any church (because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God), but those who really love Jesus won't do that... or (hopefully) they will grow out of it.
You have to understand that Racism is not a solely ''American'' thing. It happens anywhere there are diverse populations. India, for example, suffers from it, and so does Africa. And Europe was rife with prejudi ...
Series: Unlocking The Mystery
Jeff Strite
Ephesians 3:1-13
In Acts 10, we're told the story of the first Gentiles who became Christians. God sent Peter to do preach to them and baptize them... but because Peter wouldn't have done that on his own. God gave Him this instruction: ''What God has made clean, do not call common.'' Acts 10:15
About 100 years ago, Mahatma Ghandi was a student in India and became interested in the Bible. After reading the gospels he was deeply touched and seriously considered becoming a Christian. Now, in India, the society was divided up into a caste system where those in LOWER castes were generally segregated and looked down on by higher castes Ghandi had experienced that kind of bigotry and felt Christianity offered a solution to that.
So, one Sunday he went to a church wanting to learn how to become a Christian and to learn what the Bible taught. But when he got there, the ushers refused to seat him and they suggested that he go and worship with his OWN PEOPLE. He left and never went back. He said: ''If Christians have caste differences also, I might as well remain a Hindu.''
I recently had a FB conversation with a woman who had been born in India. She was telling me some of her friends (here in States) who experienced rejection in church because they were from India and it hurt my friend because that had been HER church and she had thought very highly of it.
In my reply, I explained to her that - in this congregation that I serve now - we don't allow racism to exist. But then I explained: ''bigotry can show up in any church (because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God), but those who really love Jesus won't do that... or (hopefully) they will grow out of it.
You have to understand that Racism is not a solely ''American'' thing. It happens anywhere there are diverse populations. India, for example, suffers from it, and so does Africa. And Europe was rife with prejudi ...
There are 12815 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
