A lot of churches and organizations have assimilation classes. They might call it a membership class or new hire, but the goal is to assimilate that person into the larger group. I looked up the word assimilation in the encyclopedia Britannica and it says that assimilation is the process by which people from varying backgrounds and cultures are absorbed into the dominant culture. During the process the people take on the characteristics of the dominant culture. That’s interesting to me. Culture is pretty much what drives and defines a group of people whether they’re in a church, a company or country. The culture shapes ideas and actions of the people who are apart of it.
In Mark 3, Jesus was calling the 12 disciples who would follow Him throughout His ministry. Verse 17 says that when He spoke to brother James and John, He referred to them as the “Sons of Thunder”. I’ve always loved that name, but I’ve started thinking about why He would call them that. Thunder disrupts the peace. Thunder is loud and draws attention. Yet, after three years of being with Jesus, we don’t hear John ever referred to as a “Son of Thunder” anymore. He’s known as . The Beloved” or revered to as “the one Jesus loved”. When thinking about him in the context of assimilation, being around the dominant culture of Jesus (Love), John was changed as a person and became known for his love for others as Jesus said we should be known for.
In 1 John 4:7-8, he writes, “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (NLT). How has God’s love changed who you are and how you treat other people? The closer you get to God, the more you experience His love. The more of His love you experience, the more you show that love to other people. We are to be assimilated into the culture of God’s kingdom as believers. His love should shape our ideas and our actions. This isn’t the emotional type of love that’s celebrated today. This is an agape love that seeks the betterment of others. It’s the highest form of love because it’s a choice we make to do something that is for the good of someone else even when it goes against our emotions. It’s the type of love that fundamentally changes the people who are exposed to it. Are you known by your love for others?
Photo by Maira Gallardo on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 