Lately, the news has been a barrage of “tribal warfare.”

* Gay vs Straight court rulings

* Confederates vs the Union

* North Korea vs South Korea

* Republicans vs Democrats

* Jews vs Arabs

* Russia vs just about Everybody

And, I would probably be remiss, if I didn’t mention the Dallas Cowboys ( or YOUR favorite team) Vs their opponents.

Somewhere we were made to believe there will always be TWO sides to everything and we need to pick one and it better be the right one… and we better defend that baby as if our life depended on it.

Well, at one time, our lives did depend on it. 

In the ancient world, your survival was directly connected to the strength of your tribe.  The security of tribal life allowed humans to live longer and to be more prosperous. Everyone knew their place in the tribe and their whole existence was devoted to the dominance and preservation of the tribal unit.

To survive wild beasts and enemy attacks your tribe must be stronger, smarter and more superior than its adversaries.

 In the ancient world it was always US vs THEM.  

And this went for tribal religion too. Everyone had their gods and goddesses or the forces or deities they worshipped and believed would guide and protect them.  Whenever you went to war with  another tribe you were not only going for self defense or access to resources but your god was confronting their god.  (Think David vs Goliath.)

We learned it was important to cooperate and show allegiance to the leaders and values of our tribe if we hoped to advance in life. Our tribe became our whole identity and we rallied around sacred tribal objects like flags and colors and we revered sacred places like Athens or Rome or Mecca or Jerusalem.

In human development, we move from being a baby, totally consumed with our own needs, to being an individual who identifies with a specific group…some kind of family structure that gives us food, clothing, shelter and hopefully, love. Without their help we’re dead.

As a child some form of tribalism is necessary if we hope to make it to our next birthday.

 And it also becomes a perfect greenhouse to grow one’s ego.

 In Genesis 12 God called Abram to be the leader of a new kind of tribe.  Remember Father Abraham?  (...had many sons and many sons had father Abraham.  I am one of them, and so are you, so let’s just…)

Anyway, Abram’s tribe was supposed to be different in that his would exist to be a blessing to ALL other tribes.  

Radical concept.  

As this new tribe of Abraham’s grew, they carried with them a sense of calling that they were to play a unique role in the world, to not only concern themselves with their own blessing but to make sure that everyone else experienced that blessing, too.

In the modern world, we still need our tribe to get us going in life and to care for us when times get tough. But, a serious problem emerges when we over- associate with our sub group or heritage, when we place too much dependence and significance on our tribe, when pretty much our whole identity is wrapped up in or represented by that group.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how God always seems to be calling us to a bigger vision.

A way to grow up and out of all our little tribes.

He leads us from: 

– multiple families into One Family

– multiple gods to One God

– multiple parts into One Body

– separation into integration

– our many small kingdoms into His One Great Kingdom

– “them” into “us.”

It seems real Kingdom religion is about making ONE out of TWO.  Whatever is separate, Christ comes to connect… and bring together, and make one.

I’m struck by how the woman in Mark 5 (treated inferior by the men of her time) whom we are told had an “issue of blood” for 12 years ( which deemed her “impure” by her religious group) was  addressed by Jesus as “daughter.”  He immediately identifies with her.  He immediately unifies with her…he calls her family.

Not only that, but He wants to demonstrate to her (and everyone else)

that there aren’t TWO categories: clean and unclean. 

But only ONE category: Good.  

We see him rejecting a tribal law that would call him “unclean,” and get him banned from town if he so much as accidentally touches her.

Jesus seems to want her to know that no matter what the “tribe” may have said she was in no way rejected by God.  She was fully accepted. And he seemed to be willing to stake his ministry on it.

Religion has an amazing ability, as Richard Rohr says, at its lower levels,

to declare certain types of people as outsiders.  

There’s always someone who isn’t as worthy as we are to be included.

The astounding thing to me is almost every single person Jesus touched, ate with, healed or associated with had been banned for one reason or another by his tribe. Time and time again Jesus shocked the crowds and defied his tribal leaders in order to demonstrate God’s higher law.

 Jesus came to show us there is no “them.” There is only “us.” 

Did people get mad? Was it potentially messy? Would there be age old animosities to overcome?  Oh, yeah. But, apparently, for Jesus,

alienation was the only thing

that was ultimately unacceptable in God’s Kingdom. 

Whether we think someone looks in or out, pure or impure, right or wrong Jesus’ words to the thief nailed next to him, are the litmus test for acceptance and what I pray will be the words that pour from my heart toward those from “other” groups. He says,

“Welcome. You belong with me no matter what.

We are not separate.  Come on in.”

Romans 10:12 “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him…”

Galatians 3:26,28 “So, in Christ Jesus you are (ALL) children of God…There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  

so…

– Who are “the outsiders” according to your current tribe? 

 – What forms of ancient tribalism are you holding on to that ban, ostracize or keep you separate from those of “lesser” worth?

I want to quit taking sides… to quit overly identifying with one tribe over another …to quit feeling like my worth is dependent on whether our tribe wins the cultural war of the moment.

I want to quit relishing that feeling of being better than someone else… superior to someone else… more holy or correct than those other people.

I really do want to place my citizenship in the Kingdom of God,

that unifies all, receives all, forgives all, touches all and loves all.

 Though, I will admit, this might get tough this season when the Cowboys make it to the playoffs.

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