Vision for the Kingdom

Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ. 
     - Colossians 3:10-11, The Message

Paul is casting a radical new vision for what it means to belong in the kingdom of God. The typical way we think of ourselves is now obsolete. The way our culture defines us no longer matters. Even our religion is gone. Now our life is in Christ. Now he defines who we are. And not just who we are - who others are as well. 

That means that he gets to include all the people he wants in this new adventure called 'the kingdom of God.' And if his life on earth is any indication, we'll going to be spending a lot of time with people very different than us! That's why Rachel Held Evans writes, "What makes the gospel offensive is not who it keeps out but who it lets in."

What part of Jesus dissolving your group affiliations excites you most? Bothers you most?

What part of now affiliating with others in the kingdom excites you most? Bothers you most?

Talk with him about those things.