{"id":89,"date":"2015-04-30T23:12:14","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T23:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thenakedjesus\/?p=89"},"modified":"2015-04-30T23:12:14","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T23:12:14","slug":"us-vs-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thenakedjesus\/2015\/04\/us-vs-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Us vs. Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/665\/2015\/04\/TNJ-30.fw_.png\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-90\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/665\/2015\/04\/TNJ-30.fw_-300x225.png\" alt=\"TNJ-30.fw\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Too many people who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus believe they got it right, and everyone else got it wrong. This mentality creates a very strong \u2018us\u2019 vs. \u2018them\u2019 mentality. Too many hold to this idea, and I am of the mind that it is the most destructive force in the body of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>In Mark\u2019s narrative [9:38-41] John had that same frame of mind. He saw a person teaching in the name of Jesus, but who was not part of \u201ctheir\u201d little group. John told Jesus, \u201cI put a stop to it.\u201d I think he must have been shock when Jesus did not agree with his actions, in fact the narrative shares that \u201cJesus was not pleased.\u201d Jesus told John, \u201cDon\u2019t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You see, if Jesus is the center of who we are, all the individual church, denominational, or other theology will not matter when we meet people who differ. The idea is that in Christ there is no \u2018us\u2019 or \u2018them\u2019 there is only \u2018we.\u2019 Your individual method of baptism, or communion, or music, or gender, or orientation should not matter \u2013 what should matter is that we show the world how much we love, bu loving each other.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Too many people who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus believe they got it right, and everyone else got it wrong. This mentality creates a very strong \u2018us\u2019 vs. \u2018them\u2019 mentality. Too many hold to this idea, and I am of the mind that it is the most destructive force in the body of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2697,"featured_media":90,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,12,14,16,19],"tags":[69,78,83],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church","category-missional","category-open","category-play","category-story","tag-prayer","tag-story","tag-unity"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Us vs. Them<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Too many people who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus believe they got it right, and everyone else got it wrong. This mentality creates a very strong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thenakedjesus\/2015\/04\/us-vs-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Us vs. Them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Too many people who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus believe they got it right, and everyone else got it wrong. 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