Let us imagine a group of men walking across the hills of Galilee. They all have beards, and wear robes that mark them as Jews. But there the similarities ends. Some are tall, some short; some are stocky and some slim. Some are young, while others are much older. Some are light-skinned, while others are darker.
As they come closer we see their faces. Some bear the accumulated evidence of lives lived outdoors; the wind and rain, and the relentless glare of the Middle Eastern sun, have taken their toll. Other faces are softer and paler; plainly they have not yet been exposed to the elements in the same way.
Now they are close enough that we may see their hands. As we might expect, we see the hands of fishermen, as well as the hands of clerks. We turn and walk alongside them for a while, listening. We hear the accents of “hillbillies” from Galilee, and then the cultured, educated language of Judah and Jerusalem.
Clearly they are all very different from one another. Yet they are all the same in a very important way: they are all walking with a purpose and they are all following the same leader — they are all putting their feet, one after another, into the very footprints of their Master.
Let’s assume we take some time to know these men better. There’s John, a young man who is naturally quiet and reserved. His clothes are well-made and expensive. He has the air of the upper class, of people who are used to being comfortable, going where they please, and getting what they want. We learn later than he is the son of a wealthy businessman, that he grew up in a family which entertained rich and important people, a family that owned vacation homes and employed a number of servants. But he isn’t just a spoiled rich kid — the more we observe him, the more we perceive new depths: his mind seeks out the subtleties and hidden meanings in everything he experiences. He is studious and perceptive in ways that surpass his companions.
Then there’s Peter. It doesn’t take long to learn about him. For one thing, he’ll tell you everything he’s thinking, and compel you to listen. Older than John, Peter is ‘working class’, a coarse fisherman with a wife and family to support. He is not interested in the ‘finer things’ of life; he’s never had them. Sometimes he curses, loudly, when things don’t go to suit him. He has been known to pull out a concealed dagger and wave it around when he feels threatened. He is given to boasting about what he can do. In a group, he is usually the first to speak, and the first to act — a natural leader. We spend some time with him, and we come to see a man of energy and self-assurance. Sometimes these traits lead him into thoughtless mistakes. At the same time, we also see a man truly eager to do the right thing — even when his enthusiasm turns him into a bull in a china shop.
As the disciples walk in the footsteps of Jesus, do the young man of privilege and the rough fisherman walk side by side? How do they manage to smooth over their differences?
Then there is Matthew, a despised tax collector. He has grown rich by working hand in hand with the Romans. He was, in the eyes of many Jews, a hated collaborator with their worst enemies. His work has alienated him from the Temple services, and from all polite society. Good Jews consider him “unclean”, and treat him as an outcast. He has probably sought out associations among the other outcasts of Israel — he has been a “friend of sinners”.
Near Matthew there walks Simon the Zealot. In earlier days, Simon had been a zealous nationalist, a ‘freedom fighter’. Some would have called him a terrorist. But he considered himself ‘100% Jew and proud of it’. At one time he would have poured out the last drop of his blood for his beloved nation, and their dream of independence. He would have given his life gladly, if it could have brought about the deaths of detested Romans. Once upon a time he had cursed, with a passion, all ‘oppressors’, everything they stood for, and everyone who had anything to do with them.
As these men follow their Lord, do the ‘traitor’ and the ‘patriot’ walk together? How do they ever manage to work with one another?
There are also women who follow the Master, walking a bit behind the men. Their clothing marks them out as Jews also, but otherwise they are, likewise, quite different among themselves.
Let us imagine, again, that we can see the disciple Mary. She is a “bookworm”, a dreamer, always praying and meditating. Frankly, she is simply not very practical and not very mindful of others. Alongside her is her sister Martha. Martha is a capable provider, always thinking ahead and making notes, always busy in the kitchen and around the house.
Since we are still imagining, let us go one step further, and imagine that we can read the minds of these two sisters, and hear their thoughts.
There is Mary; what is she thinking?
‘It’s so difficult. Here I am walking along, trying to enjoy the beauty of the landscape, and the lovely features of God’s handiwork. I want so much to consider the flowers and the birds, and at the same time to remember the psalms and proverbs — the ones that speak of the beauties of the natural world as a counterpoint to the glories of God’s Word. But there she is, going on and on to herself while I have to listen — about where we are going to stop for supper, and what provisions will have to be made. Can’t Martha just give it a rest, and enjoy this wonderful day?’
Now we tune out the “Mary” frequency, and zero in on “Radio Martha”.
‘How can I even think about what needs to be done, while she is chattering on about this little blossom, and that silly bird? They’ve been flowering and fluttering since before she was born, but right now we need to think about food and shelter, and how to care for this group of men. If it weren’t for me and a few like me, nothing would ever get done around here. Somebody has to think about such things! I love Mary, I really do… but if we all were like her, we’d simply starve in the wilderness.’
Was there ever tension among the members of this diverse group? Angry words? Heated arguments, followed by hostile silences? Of course — they were human.
In a sense, the group of men and women who journeyed with Jesus represent all believers in all ages. As they followed Jesus, not all at once, but along the way, they were molded into a “fellowship” — we might even call it a “follow-ship”! It was the Lord Jesus who bound them all together, in him. If men like Peter had spoken English, they would have chuckled at the happy coincidences of the words: first, the closeness in sound of “fellow” and “follow”, and then the fact that those who are in “fellowship” with one another have become “fellows” in the same “ship”.
When the storms of life battered that ship, or boat, as happened on the Sea of Galilee, it was the Master who calmed the winds and brought the boat safely to shore. Those who remained in the boat, the “fellows” in the “ship”, would be saved along with him.
When these men and women set out to follow Jesus, they did not leave their personalities and character traits behind them. Instead, they brought them along. They were who they were, lovely qualities along with less lovely ones. As they continued to follow Jesus, even their less lovely traits might be molded into useful tools which the Master could use.
A timidity, and a fondness for silent reflection, could — with the Lord’s example — develop into a thoughtfulness for others, and an ability to teach them, to open up and explain “deep things” from God’s revelation.
An excessive exuberance and zeal could — by trials and tests — be purged of its more selfish elements and its pride, and made to perform courageous service for the Lord, while supporting and strengthening others to do the same.
Spiritual thinkers and diligent workers — quiet ones and loud ones, modest types and pushy types — could travel side by side, each one giving the other something that might be lacking otherwise.
These men and women were bound together because, in spite of all their superficial differences, they had precious things in common (Acts 2:42-47). These included:
- the apostles’ teaching (which was Christ’s teaching also);
- the breaking of bread;
- individual and collective prayers, for the same people and the same hope;
- memories of wonders and signs which proved the truth of their shared beliefs;
- a common care and support for one another through all the trials of life;
- the same meeting place, where they might regularly see one another;
- common meals and other times in the company of each another;
- the resulting opportunities to talk of their united faith, and to encourage one another;
- time together to praise God, by reading and exhorting and singing; and
- the joy of periodically seeing new members “born” into their spiritual family.
These men and women shared the experience of traveling with, and hearing the teaching of, the Son of God. Together they saw the blind and the lame and the diseased made whole again, and even the dead raised to new life. From him they learned that the greatest of all miracles was not the healing, and not even the raising from physical death. The greatest miracle occurred each time a person of the world was raised from a spiritual death, through belief and baptism, to be reborn as a child of God. When they sang on such occasions, they knew that their voices were joined with those of the angels in heaven!
So we learn all this too.
Together, we have all embraced the hope of a Kingdom to come, when all wrongs will be righted, and life will be pure and peaceful and blessed, as God intended from the very beginning. Together, we have learned that there is no need to fret and worry, and to blame others — whether it be bosses or co-workers or parents or neighbors or politicians — when things don’t work out as well as we’d like. Together, we have learned that there is no need to scheme, nor to make excessive provisions for the future, because our Lord holds the future in his hand, and that future — and we ourselves — are all under his control.
By degrees, we come to see that the temporary, superficial things that divide us become more and more trivial. The glorious, eternal things that unite us become more and more important.
Today, some of us have more money than others. Some read one version of the Bible, while others set great store by a different one. Some read a little Greek, and some insert Hebrew names and titles into their Bible readings, while others have enough difficulty just reading their Bibles in English.
Some have very definite views about Last Days prophecy, while others hold very different views equally fervently. Still others wish both sides would preach the coming Kingdom of God in its simplicity, and leave it for the events themselves , along the way, to prove the rightness and wrongness of their predictions.
Some decorate Christmas trees every December, while others don’t even want to hear a mention of the holiday. Some are undisturbed by most secular things, while others try to avoid all things ‘worldly’.
Some are quiet and thoughtful; some are ‘touchy’ and easily angered. Some are idealistic; some are practical. Some are ‘strictly by the book’ brothers, while others always seek out ‘the spirit of the law’. Some are conservative traditionalists who hold fast to all the “old paths” and resist anything new. Some are liberal innovators who campaign for openness and change, and want to “prove all things”, no matter the cost.
Even in some first-centuries ecclesias, Jewish believers, who kept the feast days scrupulously, looked across their meeting room to see “unclean” Gentiles, who purchased non-kosher meat from pagan temples, looking back at them.
In some ecclesias today, believers of equally varied backgrounds and opinions look suspiciously upon one another, even as they share the bread and the wine.
From the first century to the twenty-first, the need to rise above inconsequential differences, and find common ground in the eternal truths alone, has always been a challenge for Christ’s people.
We are different in so many ways, but in the most meaningful way we are, very much, all the same. We all follow the same Lord.
Believers must look to the power of Christ’s example to overcome the prejudice and fear associated with accepting people who are different. The unity displayed by following the same leader — despite those differences — will show who belongs to Jesus, and whom he counts as his own (John 10:14; 2Tim 2:19). Did he not say, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35)?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One