In Or Out…Be Careful With Your Choices  – – Hello Hump Day readers. May is upon us already; seems like time flies quicker each day! Here at the campground we are filled with people from all over the USA, but sadly our Canadian friends and those from other countries are stuck at home because of our president. It appears that anyone NOT from the USA is not welcome (except oligarchs). Canadians–our friends and allies get a few weeks to come to the USA and back they go. If they are late, they are fined and could be jailed. What the heck is going on here?

In Titus 2:1-11 from the Message Bible, we have marching orders from the Apostle Paul:
“Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s Message because of their behavior. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives. But mostly, show them all this by doing it yourself, trustworthy in your teaching, your words solid and sane. Then anyone who is dead set against us, when they find nothing weird or misguided, might eventually come around. Guide slaves into being loyal workers, a bonus to their masters—no back talk, no petty thievery. Then their good character will shine through their actions, adding luster to the teaching of our Savior God. God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone!”

What comes to your mind when you read this Scripture? For me, it is an assurance that God’s grace can save everyone! For the people in Jesus’ day people didn’t think that way. For those of us who know the whole story, these words are for us as well. Why? Sadly, we humans aren’t prone to this “whoever” policy. Instead, we are prone to pecking orders! We love the high horse; the affluent over the destitute; the educated over the dropout; the old-timer over the newcomer; and the Jew over the Gentile.

It’s true in Jesus’ day that an impassable gulf yawned between Jews and Gentiles. No Jew would have anything to do with a Gentile. Unless that Jew, of course, was Jesus! And what happened? Suspicions of a new order began to surface because of his curious conversation with a Canaanite woman. Her daughter was dying, and her prayer was urgent, yet her ancestry was Gentile—and guess what, Jesus didn’t care about her lineage or her faith. Instead, Jesus healed the woman’s daughter and made his position clear. He was more concerned about bringing people in than shutting certain people out.

“What does this mean to us?” Right now in America we are shutting out our friends from all over the world; we are almost embracing a new and ugly type of segregation, and God weeps because each and every one on this planet is his creation. Remember the tower of Babel? I think you get my drift. We either love one another or we don’t.

Today, take a moment to check your pecking orders. Are they helpful or hurtful? Look in the mirror—what do you see—a smile that welcomes others or a frown who shuts out those you don’t like? If you are the latter, get concerned because you and Jesus are going to have a hard conversation. It’s time to welcome people in so we can share the love of our Savior and give these people the hope they are seeking. Remember: it’s not what YOU like, it’s what Jesus commands us to do—so let’s DO IT-it just may change us and the world! AMEN.