Connecting Point: Barrier Breaker

Jesus had the ability to look at people gently and speak to them in the most gracious tone. Compassion, kindness, sincerity--Christ displayed earnestness. It is no wonder he is the embodiment of grace worth following.

“You’re full of it” is a phrase you’ve heard before, right? Often in jest, such a remark is either coarse or derogatory. I thought it would be a great twist to utilize this phrase in a positive affirmation, that which displays some of the great virtues taught throughout the Bible. After all, if we are to model Jesus or strive to be like him, we can work on these traits every day. 1 John 2:3-6 emphasizes this: “We are sure that we know Christ if we obey his commandments. The person who says, ‘I know him,’ but doesn’t obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn’t in that person. But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God’s love is perfected. That’s how we know we are in Christ. Those who say that they live in him must live the same way he lived.” We are to make every effort to be full of Christ-like qualities.

One of the most notable Scriptures in which Jesus exemplified grace is in John 4, his interaction with the Samaritan women. “When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans, John 4:7-9). Cultural barriers should never keep one from extending grace. Jesus smashed the long-standing Jewish/Samaritan divide by demonstrating that treating others gracefully is the essence of what the Gospel is about. In that era, women generally weren’t seen alone in public, otherwise one would assume she was a prostitute. Assumptions are often problematic, and cultural or unbalanced religious barriers tend to destroy relationships.

Sin is no match for Gospel grace. Gracefully addressed, social barriers can have positive, life-changing outcomes. Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true,” (John 4:16-18). No matter the time period, 1st or 21st Century, addressing sin needs to be truthful, tactful, and covered in grace.

Barriers fall when we model our actions and reactions with Christ’s grace. Let’s endeavor to be full of this needed virtue.