Ephesians 2:14

Ali Johnson reflects on the importance of reaching out to people across the divides of politics, religion and finance.

Alistair Johnson

'For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.' Ephesians 2:14

My social media accounts over the past month or so have been filled with pictures of marches, demos and posts of a political nature. One particular such movement was the 'build bridges, not walls movement'. Where people from all over the world went to bridges in their communities and unveiled banners with the phrase 'build bridges not walls'. The most famous one took place on the Tower of London.

Most people tend to be a little selfish. It's human nature to look out for number one and put your own needs and desires before the needs of others. It's easy enough to get caught up in your own life and problems, but when you do that, you're creating a bigger problem by closing yourself off to many wonderful things in life and many wonderful people.

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles without closing the way underneath, such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle.

A wall on the other hand, has a purpose to support roofs, floors and ceilings, enclose or divide a space and to provide shelter and security.

These two things have very different uses. In Ephesians Paul is talking about the Jews and Gentiles. He is debating the truth that God died for both these groups. The groundwork is done, on the cross, for all to receive salvation through Christ. I find similarities between the place we are in now and time that Paul is writing about.

Paul is trying to build bridges between the Jews and Gentiles, where previously the religious elite had chosen to build walls and keep salvation to the select few. Paul instead chose to build bridges and allow all people to enter the kingdom of God. This radical thinking allowed faith in Jesus to spread like wildfire and the attitude of an entire world to begin to change.

Hostility is the state of ill will and bad feeling. I feel the world has become an increasingly hostile place. A place where the dividing line between ideologies is as far as it has been in a long time. The rise of populism has been seen with the Brexit vote, the election of Trump and the rise of far right movements across Europe. I am not making any political statements here, but to simply say God is involved in the ministry of loving all people and making all people feel truly loved and accepted.

So what should our response be as followers of Jesus? It should be to build bridges and not walls.

Building a bridge begins with a change of heart and understanding that my actions and attitudes affects others in the world. When you begin to think in terms of what others want and need, the framework is in place. Then that bridge grows a little stronger each time you give of yourself to that hard-to-reach person.

It might take a little courage to cross that bridge the first time, when you're not sure how well it's going to hold, or how you'll be received on the other side, but you'll be glad you did.

Building bridges takes a desire to give of yourself to the world and understand that your place of birth should not decide how privileged you are. Instead that we are all equal in this earth and heaven.