I really am a little nervous about this post, but it's pretty important to me so I'll go on with it anyway.
In my life, experience, and opinion, one of the hardest, if not THE hardest thing to do in Christian community is to fully accept someone. In Romans 15:7, we are commanded to receive/accept one another has Jesus has accepted us. In my NT professor's opinion, this verse is the climax of the book. All the theology of salvation and sanctification is "merely" a foundation for this statement. I tend to agree with him.
If taken to its fullest application, this statement is virtually impossible. How can we possibly love, accept, receive, tolerate, and embrace others the way Jesus does? When you think about it, most people have a lot of annoyances, quirks, idiosyncrasies, and even sins that inhibit love and acceptance.
So am I saying that we fully accept people despite their sins and imperfections?
YES!
Why?
Because if you really think about it, that's what Jesus does for you (and more so, me!) on a yearly, monthly, weekly, daily, and hourly basis! Really. Jesus puts up with more than you can imagine from your own self, the least we can do is put up with it from others. Remember Jesus' parable of the unmerciful servant, that those who don't forgive the trifles we put up with from others declare themselves not to be part of Jesus' followers. Tough, but true. You can try to argue with Jesus, but I'm not sure how far you'll get.
Just take a second to think of how many things cause you to judge others and prevent you from accepting others.
Sports teams, nationalities, Favorite music, favorite tv shows, political ideologies, sins, personalities, home state/city, and I'm sure there are a bevy of others.
Now before everyone gets mad at me for wanting to leave people drowning in their sins and not holding them accountable, let me just say again: Jesus puts up with an awful lot from you--so remember that before you judge someone, or totally refuse to embrace them as fellow Christians.
And in case you're wondering, the thing that prompted this is my own experience of being left out, "picked last", and overlooked for small reasons, and my own intoleration of others.
Thank you, house church, for showing me what full acceptance really looks like!
