The church is not a closed circle, but an open invitation.
When I met Jenny, she was a vegetarian, not because of religious beliefs but out of personal choice. I teasingly used Acts 10:15, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean,” to convince her to eat meat again. 😂
Of course, I would’ve loved her even if she had remained a vegetarian forever, but I’m so glad that, out of love for me, she started eating meat again, because now she cooks the most amazing butter chicken and beef curry.🤤
In Acts 10, we see a turning point in the story. Up until now, the gospel has been spreading primarily among the Jewish people. But God has a greater plan.
Cornelius, a Roman officer, is a God-fearing man. He prays, gives alms, and seeks God, but he does not yet know the Gospel. Then Peter receives a vision. A sheet descends from heaven, filled with animals that are unclean according to Jewish law. A voice says: “Kill and eat.” (Acts 10:13)
Peter refuses. All his life, he has made a distinction between clean and unclean. But God answers: “What God has declared clean, you must not consider unclean.” (Acts 10:15)
When Peter arrives at Cornelius's, everything falls into place. God makes no distinction between people. While Peter is still speaking, the Holy Spirit falls upon all present, including Gentiles. It is not ancestry, culture, or religious background that determines access to God, but faith in Jesus Christ.
We sometimes draw invisible boundaries: who fits in? Who belongs? But God's heart is bigger than our frameworks. The church is not a closed circle, but an open invitation.
God breaks through boundaries that people have built.
The question is: do we dare to let our convictions be corrected by God's heart?
Peter learned that he should not call anyone unclean. Are there people or groups that you keep at a distance? Are you willing to let God correct your beliefs?
Ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of any walls in your heart, visible or invisible, conscious or unconscious and ask Him to break those down.
