Alignment and Alienation
When have you experienced resistance from others about your alignment with radically inclusive love?
Matthew 10:34, The Inclusive Bible
Don’t suppose that I came to bring peace on earth. I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
Well that stings.
Here comes Jesus speaking plainly about the resistance and division his presence, message and mission brings to human reality and human relationships.
It ain’t peace, it’s division.
It isn’t unification, it’s rejection.
Yikes.
I don’t like hearing the truth so plainly spoken by Jesus in this section of Matthew’s take on the gospel message - but I do appreciate it. It’s helpful to know that while I prefer easy and peaceful relationships, that this may not be a possibility if I align myself with the radically inclusive love of God. Simply identifying with Jesus, let alone following and modeling a life after his, is going to cause separation and enemy-like reactions among some relationships.
Aligning with radical love will alienate the controlling, selfish, self-preservation in some folks and it will divide like a sword’s swift chop. When have you experienced resistance from others about your alignment with radically inclusive love?
Has following Jesus complicated any of your intimate relationships? How does the fact that Jesus predicted these complications give you perspective?