- Acts 11:18 (NKJV) When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”
I’ll never forget the first time I met my wife’s extended family; it was mayhem. Sonja directed me to a little white framed house sitting on a hillside. There must have been fifteen – twenty cars parked around the house. Children and teenagers were milling around in the yard laughing, shouting and having fun. I made my way through the maze of cars and chaos and stepped into the house. There I was confronted with what appeared to be the equivalent of Jesus feeding the five thousand – the place was packed with people and they were all talking at the same time.
Unlike the time Jesus fed the multitude, there was a table groaning under the weight of a wonderful “pot luck” Thanksgiving meal. Pretty soon, one of Sonja’s aunts shouted down the crowd and someone “said the blessing” and then there was a stampede for the table followed by everyone enjoying their meal sitting/standing around the room eating and talking and thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Needless to say, having come from a small family that seldom ever met with extended family; and even then, only a few at a time, I was overwhelmed. In addition, Thanksgiving meals at my home were a much more formal affair with fine china, candlelight and quiet conversation. So you can imagine how radically different my first experience with Sonja’s family was.
Now here’s the point of this little trip down memory lane: Are my in-laws crazy? Of course not! They are some of the nicest, friendliest and most caring people in all the world. Most assuredly, they are not crazy they are just different.
One of the greatest lessons in life that we can learn is the lesson the early church had to learn when they discovered that Gentiles could also be spirit-filled Christians. I had to learn the same lesson when first introduced to Sonja’s family. That lesson is this: Just because someone is different from you does not mean that they cannot be loved by God and included in your circle of faith and friendship.
Dear friend, broaden your circle. There are so many people in the world who could be dear and close friends and brothers and sisters in Christ if you will just open your heart to them. Remember, there was a time that you were on the outside looking in and Jesus said, “Welcome home my friend!”
The ONE THING 