Martha Olawale

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like precious ointment… Psalm 133:1-2a

As I saw the text with Jen’s name on it, my spirit leaped because although I’ve not seen her in four years, her family was an integral part of my life. We spent two years in the same church group, learning, laughing, praying, and even camping together. We’ve moved to a different state and our families attend different churches now but the bond between us is Jesus and that is strong enough to defy all odds.

One of the greatest blessings of my faith is sharing life with other people walking with God and my closest relationships are with those I share the hope of Heaven with. The root of the love the Christian family share is deeper than the world can upturn. Even when we are separated by time or geography, there is such an unbreakable bond that keeps us close.

Christ left us a perfect example of what our view of Christianity should look like. His disciples were a bunch of misfits, yet He loved them and shared life with them. When He sets out to choose the twelve, He didn’t look for people who had it all put together, as the Scribes and Pharisees did. His disciples were all rough around the edges and would not pass our definition of ‘worthy.’ Peter was impatient, Matthew was an untrusted tax collector, Simon was a zealot, Thomas was skeptical, and Judas was crookedly ambitious.

The value system of Christianity is measured by the pages of the scriptures and not the colors of our skin, geography, or our earthly affluence. Whatever we have here is temporal and when we walk through the gates of Heaven, the people we’ll look for are those we’ve shared our faith with here on earth; blood family or church family—group members, choirmates, prayer partners, and others we’ve walked the line of faith with. We are more than the definition and label the world places on us because we walk in the fullness of Christ’s love for us. He said in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples...”

Many Christians are missing the beauty of the fellowship of faith because they’ve subscribed to the polarization the world throws at us, clouding the clear intent of Christ for His church. Through salvation, we are adopted into the family of God and our lives become just a little brighter when we spend time with other believers. Our faith is rooted in Jesus, the firstborn of the church and regardless of our differences, we are bought at the same price, by the same savior, and we are headed to the same kingdom.