House Divided V

...for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country.

 - From John 4

Jesus couldn't do much in his hometown. He was "too close." They knew Him too well . . . His family, and all of their dysfunctionalities and idiosyncrasies, were known by everybody. 

In other words, the people that knew Jesus best, that were his blood relatives and neighbors, acted like children.

How might His ministry have changed; how might history have changed, if Jesus' own neighbors and kinsmen given Him a chance?

How might history have changed, if Cain weren't so jealous of Abel, to the point of hate?

What if Joseph's brothers gave him a chance?

What if antebellum Americans had realized that the slaves in their community were their kinspeople, their brothers and sisters, if not neighbors, and acted accordingly?

What if family and friends during Adolph Hitler's formative years, had affirmed and promoted his positive qualities, rather than rejected him?

Unity starts at home. It begins in our block; our school, our neighborhood. It is in our family trees and in our church membership rolls. 

But we can't even promote the good ideas of people we know the best. We won't purchase their creative works; do our business with them, invest in them. It doesn't occur to us to contribute to the 501(c)3s launched by our own relatives. 

And Jesus' own kinsmen and neighbors rejected him first, and decisively. 

Elvis had to go to Memphis; and the Beatles had to go to Hamburg, before anyone would pay attention.

This is the beginning of the House Divided. You want the world to be a better place? You want peace, and freedom, and wealth? 

Then start by putting family ahead of employer; Put your kin ahead of pride. Put the poor person ahead of the wealthy. Put your community ahead of your denomination. And put the Body of Christ ahead of your political party.

It works. Like magic.