There’s a beautiful, transformative event in the life of the Apostle Peter detailed in the Bible’s New Testament Book of Acts that I think many American Christians really need to experience for themselves.
Essentially, Peter has a vision and hears the voice of God speaking to him as he’s praying on the rooftop one morning. The point the Holy Spirit wants Peter to understand is this:
No human being is unclean or unworthy in the eyes of God.
Now, the specifics have to do with whether or not Gentiles are eligible to receive the Gospel and become members of the Body of Christ. But, the larger context and principle expressed [in Peter’s own words] is this:
“God has shown me that I should not call any person unholy or unclean.” [Acts 10:28]
We can mock Peter for needing this vision to be shown to him three times before he gets it. We can explain how this concept was already emphasized by Jesus several times and in various ways prior to this.
Jesus went out of his way to travel through Samaria and speak to the woman at the well. Jesus praised the Gentile Roman Centurion for having greater faith than anyone else in Jerusalem or the House of Israel. Jesus even sent the Disciples out to preach the Good News of the Kingdom to “all the nations” [which would have obviously included the Gentiles].
But, how many times will we need this explained to us before we get it?
I mean, has God shown us that we should never call anyone unholy or unclean? Yes! More than three times. But, we still seem to struggle with this very simple concept.
I wish Christians today would take this verse to heart. Print it up on t-shirts. Slap that bumper sticker on your Camry. Post and share that meme on your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram page.
“God has shown us that we should never call any person unholy or unclean.”
That means no one is rejected. No one is excluded. Not gay people, not transgender people, not Muslims, not Atheists, not Democrats, not Pro-Choice, not Black Lives Matter, not Marxists, not anyone, anywhere, at any time for any reason.
To put it another way, “God has shown us that everyone is clean and everyone is holy.”
Yes. Everyone.
How many more times will we need to hear this or have it explained to us before we really, really embrace this fundamental truth of the Gospel?
Deconstruction isn’t going away. The future is being shaped right now. Those who ask the hard questions today are the ones who will help create the Christianity of tomorrow.
