Embodying Inclusion

A common belief about the church is how unaccepting and unwelcoming we are. Honestly, I cannot blame others for believing this. 

Currently, many churches are unwelcoming of anyone who goes against what a “Christian” should be. A person will get “disqualified” because of their sexual orientation, race, gender or social status.

I think we need to go back to our roots, back to whom we claim to follow— Jesus.

In Luke 4, Christ preaches in Nazareth with his own people, family and friends. Everyone loved his sermon— until he challenged them further. 

Jesus risked his life to announce the inclusion of others, daring to speak against social norms of creating outcasts. He included the poor, the prisoners, the blind and the oppressed— taking it so far as to include the foreigners his neighbors hated. 

He brought attention to those on the outside. Jesus went beyond mere stating words of inclusion; he embodied them. 

Jesus took his opportunity to make a bold claim. He could have cherished the way things were, but he dared to say what needed to be said: Everyone was included in the ministry of Jesus, including the very people society deemed “less than.”

These words were hard to hear. Instead of considering his words, “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off a cliff” (Luke 4:28-29).

Killing Jesus was easier than including those they hated or saw as “different.” The church still struggles with this action. 

Christians would rather hold on to harmful beliefs instead of embodying inclusion. Staying silent in our comfort zones seems more appealing. It’s easier to turn away from and ignore Jesus rather than listen to this uncomfortable teaching. 

While we sit comfortably in the pews, churches remain segregated by race— more than any other institution. The LGBTQIA community, the poor who are trying to survive, the homeless, the immigrant, the neurodivergent and so many more people are sidelined. 

Their place in society is seen as “less than” because they hold traits different from the majority. There are any number of excuses as to why they are left out. 

They think differently. They talk differently. They act differently. 

Yet, they all still have an opportunity in the kingdom of God. Throughout his ministry, Christ continued to welcome the marginalized. 

He spoke to a Samaritan woman at the well, who was a foreigner, a woman, and had a complex relationship history. Jesus called 12 disciples: a tax collector, fishermen and other men of lower status. He acknowledged the poor, the deaf, the blind, the lepers and those with chronic conditions. 

He didn’t see their “disqualifications;” he saw them. Jesus embodied an inclusion so radical in his time that the Jewish leaders did not know what to do with him. They accused him of hanging out with sinners. 

They could not quite understand what was going on. We, too, should be in the same boat, confusing those around us because of whom we embrace. 

We will find ourselves in the same situation as Jesus, being invited to choose who we will fully accept. Maybe when the right opportunity comes, as was the case in Luke 4, we will have the chance to speak and act boldly. At that time, we can ask the tough questions and say the hard things. 

Because we are not called to be faithful to the opinions or reactions of others. We are called to be faithful to Christ. 

If Jesus had walked away, nothing would have changed. Christianity would not exist. The people would have returned to their everyday lives.

However, Jesus offered them something more. He challenged their views on what the kingdom of God really is. 

It is not a playhouse of our own making. It is a universe expansive beyond all comprehension where all are welcome. This is where the radical nature of Christianity should come in. 

Jesus’ disciples should dare to push like him and challenge the assumptions of others. We can also embrace those we see as different. 

Or will we continue to exclude because his message of inclusion is too challenging? Because our comfort is maintained by leaving others out?

Will we exclude them from the life of community and shame them into the background? If we walk this way, it means turning away from the truth of the kingdom of God. 

Jesus will walk right through us and go on his way.