Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Theologian Kat Armas celebrates how early Christians would have heard the gospel call to dignity and belonging, in contrast to the empire’s insistence on conquerors and those conquered:
In the empire’s world, belonging was a double-edged blade. To be counted, to have a name that meant anything beyond yourself, you had to be willing to shed your own skin, to carve yourself into a shape that mirrored the empire’s desires. Conformity to the empire’s will was a way of survival, a bitter peace won through the erasure of identity. There was no space for wild diversity, no room for the vast and beautiful spectrum of human existence.
But then this voice, this gospel, cuts through the air: “There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free …” (Colossians 3:11). These labels—Greek, Jew, slave, free—were more than words; they were walls built around souls, barriers defining who could rise, who was condemned to serve. But with Colossians’ bold proclamation, the empire’s iron categories tremble. In Christ, even the outsider is welcomed. No longer must anyone bow to belong; this new kin-dom dismantles the lie that peace requires our silence….
The way of Jesus stands in stark contrast. This gospel takes the empire’s most despised and remakes them, offering not only belonging but belovedness. The reach of Christ’s love goes to the most forsaken corners of the imagination and brings forth kin. Here, we find a love that turns the feared into family.
In this new kin-dom, there is no lower rank, no conquest hiding under the guise of unity. Jew and Greek, slave and free, barbarian and Scythian all gather at the same table, each honored as they are.
Armas emphasizes how this movement of God supported both diversity and belonging:
When Colossians speaks of putting off the old self, of shedding the garments of empire, it calls us into a transformation that is not about adornment but about a fundamental rebirth. In Roman triumphs, victors would strip away their old clothes and don the robes of victory in a ceremony that celebrated the rule of the conqueror. In the empire, proper dress symbolized civilization itself. To be Roman was to be clothed rightly, while those deemed “barbarians” were marked by their supposed lack of refinement, cast as outsiders not just by geography but by appearance, by dress, by body. This belief endured through European colonization and still lingers into our modern minds. To belong in the empire is to dress the part. But the gospel invites us to clothe ourselves instead in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and above all love. This love is no shallow thing—it binds us, mends us, forms a communion where there were once only categories. In this kin-dom, power falls away, and what’s left is a peace so deep that it becomes home, a place where difference can finally breathe. A place of communion, solidarity, and friendship.
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Sarah Young Jesus Calling
To live in My Presence consistently, you must expose and expel your rebellious tendencies. When something interferes with your plans or desires, you tend to resent the interference. Try to become aware of each resentment, however petty it may seem. Don’t push those unpleasant feelings down; instead, let them come to the surface where you can deal with them. Ask My Spirit to increase your awareness of resentful feelings. Bring them boldly into the Light of My Presence, so that I can free you from them.
The ultimate solution to rebellious tendencies is submission to My authority over you. Intellectually you rejoice in My sovereignty, without which the world would be a terrifying place. But when My sovereign will encroaches on your little domain of control, you often react with telltale resentment.
The best response to losses or thwarted hopes is praise: The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Remember that all good things–your possessions, your family and friends, your health and abilities, your time–are gifts from Me. Instead of feeling entitled to all these blessings, respond to them with gratitude. Be prepared to let go of anything I take from you, but never let go of My hand!
RELATED SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Additional insight regarding Psalm 139:23-24: David asked God to search for sin and point it out, even to the level of testing his thoughts. This is exploratory surgery for sin. How are we to recognize sin unless God points it out? Then, when God shows us, we can repent and be forgiven. Make this verse your prayer. If you ask the Lord to search your heart and your thoughts to reveal your sin, you will be continuing on “the path of everlasting life.”
1st Peter 5:6 (NLT)
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
Additional insight regarding 1st Peter 5:6: We often worry about our position and status, hoping to get proper recognition for what we do. But Peter advises us to remember that God’s recognition counts more than human praise. God is able and willing to bless us according to his timing. Humbly obey God regardless of present circumstances, and in his good time – either in this life or the next – he will honor you.
Additional insight regarding 1st Peter 5:7: Carrying your worries, stresses, and daily struggles by yourself shows that you have not trusted God fully with your life. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares, to admit your need, and to let others in God’s family help you. Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God’s concern. But when we turn to God in repentance, he will bear the weight even of those struggles. Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passivity. Don’t submit to circumstances but to the Lord, who controls circumstances.
Job 1:21 (NLT)
21 He said,
“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had,
and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”
Additional insight regarding Job 1:21: Job did not hide his overwhelming grief. He had not lost his faith in God; instead, his emotions showed that he was human and that he loved his family. God created our emotions, and it is not sinful or inappropriate to express them as Job did. If you have experienced a deep loss, a disappointment, or a heartbreak, admit your feelings to yourself and others, and grieve.
Additional insight regarding Job 1:21: Job had lost his possessions and family in this first of Satan’s tests, but he reacted rightly toward God by acknowledging God’s sovereign authority over everything God had given him. Satan lost this first round. Job passed the test and proved that people can love God for who he is, not for what he gives.
