Part 3 concluded with wondering how we can respond in perfect unity to religious persecution. This question arose from a personal retreat into Micah 6:8, where God tells us in a very Old Testament, Jewish sort of way what is good and how we should behave.
So how might our response look like walking humbly, loving justly, and covenanting loyalty?
Now put this with the one example of practical unity in Acts 2:42 – teaching, fellowship, and prayer all gathered together.
And remember that Jesus’s framework of unity that includes all children of Abraham.
Three words were then given to me when God spoke this week:
Celebrate – Does the world see us as happy or angry most of the time? What could we do to celebrate our unity in a very joyful and powerful message to the world by celebrating together?
Elevate – And what might happen if tens of millions of us report the persecution of our brothers and sisters who cannot aggregate and celebrate? This is a unity not limited to Christians, Jews, or Muslims, but it includes all people of faith. If we can aggregate and celebrate together, we can elevate the urgency of persecuted people to a level that will become very difficult for leaders in a modern world to sustain.
The acronym of the three words above is ACE. Asking the question as if we are in a game of cards – ACE of what? – leads us to both the danger and the opportunity before us.
Is it the Ace of Spades, often associated with death and darkness?
Or the Ace of Clubs, which might symbolize political or military power?
Or the Ace of Diamonds, representing great financial wealth?
The danger lies in contaminating the elevation and outcry with politics.
No, it is the Ace of Hearts, demonstrated by people like Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi – peaceful yet massive public telling of the truth with grace.
The ACE of Hearts is simply obeying what God has told us is good: walk humbly, love justly, and covenant loyalty with all people of faith whose voices are oppressed anywhere in the world!
From Jericho to Berlin, the ACE of Hearts can crumble the most impenetrable walls!
So how might our response look like walking humbly, loving justly, and covenanting loyalty?
Now put this with the one example of practical unity in Acts 2:42 – teaching, fellowship, and prayer all gathered together.
And remember that Jesus’s framework of unity that includes all children of Abraham.
Three words were then given to me when God spoke this week:
- Aggregate
- Celebrate
- Elevate
Celebrate – Does the world see us as happy or angry most of the time? What could we do to celebrate our unity in a very joyful and powerful message to the world by celebrating together?
Elevate – And what might happen if tens of millions of us report the persecution of our brothers and sisters who cannot aggregate and celebrate? This is a unity not limited to Christians, Jews, or Muslims, but it includes all people of faith. If we can aggregate and celebrate together, we can elevate the urgency of persecuted people to a level that will become very difficult for leaders in a modern world to sustain.
The acronym of the three words above is ACE. Asking the question as if we are in a game of cards – ACE of what? – leads us to both the danger and the opportunity before us.
Is it the Ace of Spades, often associated with death and darkness?
Or the Ace of Clubs, which might symbolize political or military power?
Or the Ace of Diamonds, representing great financial wealth?
The danger lies in contaminating the elevation and outcry with politics.
No, it is the Ace of Hearts, demonstrated by people like Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi – peaceful yet massive public telling of the truth with grace.
The ACE of Hearts is simply obeying what God has told us is good: walk humbly, love justly, and covenant loyalty with all people of faith whose voices are oppressed anywhere in the world!
From Jericho to Berlin, the ACE of Hearts can crumble the most impenetrable walls!
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