Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. — Romans 15:7
Throughout life, we seem to be searching for and striving for acceptance. From a young age, society taught us that “fitting in” is important. We want to look like the cool kids, act like the cool kids, and even be accepted by the cool kids.
It doesn’t get much better as we get older. Teenagers struggle with fitting in and striving for acceptance. The same goes for young adults and older adults. Even in churches, we find that there are many times groups where people struggle to fit in with the groups.
Fitting in is certainly not the example that we were taught by Jesus. Jesus was not concerned with fitting in with those around Him. Everywhere that we find Jesus went, instead of fitting in, He was standing out. He was not looking for attention, He was simply focused on doing the work of God.
This verse in Romans reminds us that we should “receive,” or treat each other as Christ. Jesus was so focused on the work of God, that He was not concerned if someone had the right clothes, the right shoes, the right income, or fit into the ideal look that most would want. He was more concerned that they know Him and the change that He could make in their lives.
As Christians, we should cultivate an environment around us where people should not have to worry about being anything other than themselves. People should not worry about how we will treat them based on where they are from, who they are, or any aspect of their personal lives.
That is not to say that we do not take a stance against sin. We should never accept sin. God does not say to hate the sinner. Instead, He tells us to love the sinner, but hate the sin.
Christians and non-Christians alike should feel that we are not demanding that they fit into our vision of perfection. Instead, they should see that we are all sinners and that the difference in us is Christ. They should see such a difference in us that they want to experience the same difference in their life.