fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one ’ s tribe , race , class , and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind . This oft misunderstood , this oft misinterpreted concept so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force , has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man .”
Does any of this sound familiar to you ? Even within the tribe of Christianity I am reading think pieces by professed Christians against empathy . The idea that love is somehow a weak power is an insult to the Christ who came lowly , riding on a donkey to proclaim it .
“ The symbol of the Christian is the cross . It is to pick up the burden of our fellow human beings and walk toward the dusty , long road that leads us to the redemptive work that is found within the kingdom of God .”
The devil would love to see the world sink into chaos . The spirits of darkness would love to see the divisions that have arisen deplete us , not from outside , but from within . The spirit of unforgiveness holds us hostage more than our enemies . The burden of hate will cause our arms to grow so heavy . And none of this is new . Every sinking feeling of hopelessness the world has felt before . Every crushing weight of anxiety and depression and division has been felt before . The question “ Where do we go from here ” has been asked before . Toward chaos ? Toward community ? But know , before you choose , that the groups you identify with may deeply influence how you see the problems we face . Which is why I ask you to lay them down for just a few more moments . You can pick them all back up again , but not until you ’ ve picked up your cross .
The symbol of the Christian is the cross . It is to pick up the burden of our fellow human beings and walk toward the dusty , long road that leads us to the redemptive work that is found within the kingdom of God . It is a cross that belongs to all nations . It is a cross that has no dominant language . It is a cross that does not belong to a country or a political party or a denomination . The cross belongs to the King of the world upon whom all authority has been given on both heaven and earth ( Matt . 28:18 ). The cross belongs to Christ . And Christ is the unifier of us all .
Pastor David Asscherick preached a sermon titled “ Gospel Tribe ,” where he relays Revelation 7 beautifully . In Revelation 7:9 , when John saw heaven , he saw a multitude that no one could number : “ After this I looked , and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count , from every nation , tribe , people and language , standing before the throne and before the Lamb .”
Heaven is not a place for the few . Heaven will not belong to a single tribe . John saw in a vision an innumerable multitude . They did not share a common language . They did not all share the same denomination . They certainly were not all the same political affiliation . Do you want to know what they all had in common ? We see that in verse 10 : “ They cried out in a loud voice : ‘ Salvation belongs to our God .’” So we have people of different countries with different languages and races and beliefs and ideologies , who undoubtedly differ on a variety of issues , and yet they are similar only in the fact that they
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