Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15.7

Do we dare? Do we dare to participate in such acceptance? Do we dare to speak for God and say, “Sorry, no, we can’t accept you because….” This seems to parallel Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness, give it and receive it. The wild and relentless love of God for us is seen in Christ. He loves us, accepts us and makes a way for us to participate in that loving acceptance. Not only acceptance for ourselves but for others.

We often refuse to give acceptance for whatever tribal reasons. We separate each other by race, class, gender and myriad other reasons. During his ministry, Jesus was often disregarding those reasons. He crossed over those dividing lines to reach out and accept all. We often want to stick with those that are respectable, relate-able and honorable for our ‘acceptable’ list. What brings praise to God, however, is the burning of whatever tick list we may have and accepting others regardless of background. We may disagree with others, including sisters and brothers in Christ, over matters of belief. The acceptance of them as we have been accepted by Christ is unavoidable. In this, loving acceptance trumps beliefs.