There is an important practical lesson for us to learn in the choice of the twelve by Jesus (see Mark 3:13-19). As a result of the decision made by our Lord, Matthew, a tax collector and Roman collaborator, finds himself on the same side as Simon the Zealot, the sworn enemy of Rome who is determined to throw off the yoke of oppression. A Zealot was as far removed from a tax collector as a radical Islamic jihadist is from a passionate tea party conservative. Continue reading . . .

There is an important practical lesson for us to learn in the choice of the twelve by Jesus (see Mark 3:13-19). As a result of the decision made by our Lord, Matthew, a tax collector and Roman collaborator, finds himself on the same side as Simon the Zealot, the sworn enemy of Rome who is determined to throw off the yoke of oppression. A Zealot was as far removed from a tax collector as a radical Islamic jihadist is from a passionate tea party conservative.

If Simon the Zealot had met Matthew the tax collector anywhere else than in the company of Jesus, he would have killed him on the spot. In any other setting, apart from their common call to follow Christ, Matthew would have had Simon arrested on the spot and probably executed as a revolutionary.

In having said this, I also am persuaded that once these men came under the influence of our Lord and listened attentively to his teaching, both of them would have abandoned their former political allegiance. Matthew could not have followed Jesus and still served in collaboration with the Romans in extorting money from his fellow Jews. And Simon would have learned that armed insurrection against Rome was not the way of Jesus.

Let’s apply this to the criteria people employ to justify the choice of a local church or a small group within it. Are you always on the lookout for people who look like you and talk like you and eat at the same restaurants as you and dress the way you do? Do you accept an invitation to hang out with some folks here only to discover that the only thing you have in common is that you all walk upright on two legs and breathe the same air?

Actually, that’s not true. The one thing you have in common that trumps all other differences is your belief in Jesus, your love for Jesus, your passion to see his name exalted and his kingdom expanded and his beauty seen and savored and his glory magnified.

Perhaps you should look for a group that has people who are stronger than you in certain areas so they can support and encourage you. Perhaps you should look for a group that has people who are weaker than you in certain areas so you can serve them by providing them with what they can’t do for themselves. If all you look for is a group that looks like you and shares your interests, you may discover you’re in a cult, not a church!

Bridgeway Church here in Oklahoma City is an odd collection of people! Seriously. We have accountants and artists. We have office managers and musicians. We have introverts and extroverts. We have an increasingly wide diversity of ages. We have fans of OSU and OU worshiping side by side! We have people who live in the inner city and people who live in the suburbs. We have wealthy people, middle class people, and some who are struggling to make ends meet. I wish we had a greater ethnic diversity, but I rejoice when I see black and white and Hispanic and Asian and native American Indian and every other ethnicity.

What matters most, however, is that we are united around a common cause, as our Mission statement declares: We exist to exalt Christ in the City, through Gospel-Centered Worship, Discipleship, Community, and Mission. And at the center of this cause is Christ. So it was with the early disciples, and so it shall be with us as well.