Jesus saves—and Jesus divides.

Matthew records Jesus pointedly instructing his disciples before they spread out to carry news of the Messiah to their countrymen. Instead of handing out cool stickers or clever memes, Jesus cut to the core:

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves…be on your guard…you will be hated by everyone because of me…

Hated because of Jesus?

Then Jesus follows a few counts later with: Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

A true and accurate understanding of Jesus calls for a decision, and decisions divide. As a young man, I made a decision to attend the University of Missouri, instantly dividing me from those poor, lost souls who attended the University of Kansas, most to be pitied. But I digress.

Choosing to follow Jesus divides you and me from those who consider Jesus and then reject him. In years spent trying to help people decide about Jesus, I appreciated anyone willing to take a long, hard look at his words and their implications. Especially at the hard passages like this one—whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

What I see today is the tendency to reject Jesus because of the actions, or perceived actions, of those who grab the name of Jesus and paste it on their pet enterprise. Whether it’s nationalism, or culturally-approved interpretations of biblical moral codes, or healing oils—graffitiing Jesus across your banner profits the cause.

But it buries the real Jesus under piles of cultural trash.

Better to dig through the detritus of culture and religion, uncover passages like this one, and then decide which side of the divide I fall on.

Matthew 10 in week thirty of reading the Bible cover to cover

Sign above found at the Denver Rescue Mission—a group worthy of support