Luke 11:23

I was reading the bible this morning and stumbled (in every possible way) over something Jesus said,


"He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth" 

From my modern, American, toleranceiseverything perspective this sounds mighty exclusive. Harsh. Not easy to swallow. Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of it.

Is Jesus talking about spiritual reality? Like a universal law of physics, but a universal law of the spiritual world? For myself, the first part is OK. I am definitely a Christ believer. But the second clause? Hmmmm. What exactly does "gathereth" mean?

What are the ways that a person can help gather?  I can think of the obvious: missions, prosletyizing...etc. That is so not my cup of tea. I'm not good at it. I'm uncomfortable about it. But are there other ways to gather? I've been thinking a lot about how Jesus calls me to LOVE others. And while I'm still not exactly clear about how to logistically implement that, it's the only concrete guidance I have received on the matter.

Love people. Anywhere. Everywhere. Really love them. Care about them and their lives. Help if I can. Be a good samaritan. Don't look away from pain and suffering.

What a great vision.

But darn challenging to live up to. Sometimes I don't even remember. I get so wrapped up with my daily life, the needs of my family and my personal concerns that I lose focus. I wish I had a little "reset" button inside of my that God would push whenever I need to remember to LOVE people.

Wouldn't that be cool?