Like the carcasses of the sacrifices from the temple, Jesus was taken outside the city of Jerusalem and that is where he achieved his greatest work for humankind. That is where he suffered and died for our sins. The writer of Hebrews draws on this picture to portray the kind of life that Christians will lead. We will always be outsiders to the flow and agenda of the world. We must be in the world and we must participate in and contribute to our society. But we are inevitably different by virtue of our different focus. We are not serving the ‘gods’ of worldly lifestyle and success. We are members of God’s Kingdom and we are establishing his Kingdom, his rule, on earth. The materialistic priorities of human beings have made a mess of the world. We must be committed to being part of the solution, not part of the problem. The original recipients of this letter to the Hebrews were struggling with the experience of being outcasts. But they are reminded here that the truth is not popular, and if we pursue popularity we may find ourselves forsaking the truth. Jesus, the perfect expression of truth, was cast out by human beings. If you want to stand for truth, you will not be standing on the ‘inner’ of society but on the ‘outer’. It is from the outer, however, that you will achieve your purpose just as Jesus did. So be in the world, be very involved, but be prepared to be on the outer by virtue of your values and priorities.
Ask God to make you more transparent before others about your faith.
Read Hebrews 13:9-25
