It is not unusual to hear the word “inclusive” used to describe Jesus these days. It is certainly true that while Jesus lived and ministered on this earth, He included many people whom others in His day refused to have anything to do with. Everyone fell within the scope of His love. He reached out to women, Samaritans, Gentiles, Romans, lepers, servants, and those who were considered immoral. No one was excluded from being a potential member of God’s kingdom in Jesus’ sight.

However, many today are emphasizing the concept of Jesus’ being inclusive as a way to justify accepting people who claim to follow Jesus but who are not submitting to what He says about becoming a true believer. They want us to acknowledge adherents of other religions as being equally in a right relationship with God even though they don’t believe in Jesus as God’s Son who died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins. They want us to welcome others into the fold of Christ not as fellow repentant sinners, but as those who are proud of their immorality and who insist on others accepting it and even celebrating it.

Recommended for you

The Rev. Tony W. Elder is pastor of Wesley Community Fellowship Church. He can be reached at 770-483-3405 or by e-mail at revtelder@aol.com.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Please log in, or sign up for a new, free account to read or post comments.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.