Our Anchored Bible studies this “semester” are focused on the book of Ephesians. And the church in Ephesus was dealing with this whole issue of Gentiles being a part of the body of Christ, the church. Jewish people at that time were not as excited that Gentiles were allowed to be a part of the family of God without following their traditions. Namely circumcision.
Ephesians 2:11 says, “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—”
I was approached by some ladies coming out of the Anchored,Tuesday morning class. They asked me why circumcision and how people knew if someone was circumcised or not without doing the obvious. I made a joke of it, because you know, I’m a funny guy…
However, after that interaction, I started thinking about how people would know if someone was of the uncircumcision party of the church. I think there are a couple of ways people knew. First, there would be the physical appearance (and I don’t mean THAT physical appearance). People from different parts of the world and different nations have different appearances. Sometimes the differences are in facial features. Sometimes it is color. I would imagine that Jewish people probably had some distinguishing features, as did some of the Gentiles.
Secondly, would it not make sense that there were some language differences? The Jewish people were possibly speaking some Hebrew or Aramaic. The Gentiles could have been speaking Greek or another dialect from their distinct area.
Finally, and what I feel is the most important difference, would have been their behavior. Jewish people, whether for Godly reasons or not, behaved differently from Gentiles. The celebrations, the commandments, and the traditions would have set them apart. And, while some of the traditions, if approached as law, may have been held for the wrong reasons, some of their traditions they kept because they drew them closer to God.
The idea of Lent is a Catholic tradition. I’m not Catholic, but for the sake of my relationship with God, I could probably do with denying myself something for an extended period and devote that time to prayer.
And that brings up the point of this article. How are you and I, as Christians, different from the world around us? Could someone spend time with us and notice a difference in how we live our lives, how we talk, and our attitude toward others?
Philippians 2:1-9 reads, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
I dare say that if our attitude reflected this passage, people would know we are Christ followers. Not because we showed them our baptism certificate or because we showed them an attendance record of how often we attend church, and not because we wear a Christian hat or t-shirt. They would see Christ in us. And then, hopefully, desire the same kind of life.
Let’s go reflect Jesus.