Insiders outside

Insiders outside are coming inside in great numbers in the Punjab. If that makes any sense at all?!

I was listening to Rev. I K Abraham, the General Secretary of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band as he led a Bible study this morning for a group of mission leaders brought together by Faith2Share. He spoke on Ephesians 3:6 "This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus." I have read that verse many times but never heard the truth behind it expressed so simply and clearly as Abraham put it this morning - the insiders are outside and must be brought in. If we look with the eyes of God there are no 'outsiders', no divisions, all are 'insiders', but some of the 'insiders' are still outside the fellowship of the church and we need to welcome them in.

Abraham went on to tell us of the hundreds of men and women in the Punjab, India, who every day discover that because of Jesus' love for them (his costly love for them on the cross) they are 'insiders' - they belong, they are part of the body of Christ ... and so the visible church grows by hundreds each day.

Now I'm wondering who I treat as outsiders when they are really just insiders left outside in the cold.