Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - WordAction of The Nazarene Publishing House at The Global Church of the Nazarene in Kansas city, Missouri, United States- "Bridging Tribal Barriers" by Duane Brush - Romans 12:9-21

Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - WordAction of The Nazarene Publishing House at The Global Church of the Nazarene in Kansas city, Missouri, United States- "Bridging Tribal Barriers" by Duane Brush - Romans 12:9-21-------
Romans 12:⁹ Don’t let love be a mere outward show. Recoil from what is evil, and cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect. ¹¹ Don’t be lazy when hard work is needed, but serve the Lord with spiritual fervor. ¹² Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer. ¹³ Share what you have with God’s people, and practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you — bless them, don’t curse them! ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be sensitive to each other’s needs — don’t think yourselves better than others, but make humble people your friends. Don’t be conceited. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but try to do what everyone regards as good. ¹⁸ If possible, and to the extent that it depends on you, live in peace with all people. ¹⁹ Never seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God’s anger; for in the Tanakh it is written,

“Adonai says, ‘Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.’”[Romans 12:19 Deuteronomy 32:41]

²⁰ On the contrary,

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For by doing this, you will heap
fiery coals [of shame] on his head.”[Romans 12:20 Proverbs 25:21–22]

²¹ Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

-------
Tribalism is far from an extinct relic. When we say “tribe” our minds tend to go to nomadic primitive people living in small hunter-gatherer groups. These groups are often characterized as being fearful, even hostile, toward outsiders. Such preconceived notions may blind us to our own “tribes.”
Modern tribes can be defined by a wide variety of factors. Our affiliation with these various tribes can run from the trivial and superficial to those that define the very core identity. Too often, our tribes exhibit the same fear and hostility toward outsiders that we claim to see in other groups.
Peacemakers build bridges of understanding and trust between groups, leading to both social and spiritual transformation. These “children of God” exhibit sincere love, they hate evil and cling to the good, honor others above themselves and they have great zeal for serving the Lord.
-------