The Gospel of Mark recalls a time when John the disciple — sounding like a snitching five-year-old — said to Jesus, “we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.” Do you hear it? In that whiny tone, John said, “He was not following us. Not God. Not Jesus. Us. In just a short time of being followers of Jesus, they have already created a ‘we/they’ mindset. It’s a them versus us polarity despite that other person ministering in Jesus’ name. 

Jesus will have none of it. In what could become the first issue of boundary maintenance of determining who’s in and who’s out, and what to do when membership status in community is questioned, Jesus clears the air. “Do not stop him; for no one who does deeds of power in my name will be able to speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.” 

It was a formative moment for the disciples and a defining moment for the early church. There was no room for pointing fingers. No room for setting boundaries between who is in and who is out. In building up God’s community, it is an ever-widening circle. While the early church was challenged by this, the church today and our society in general is challenged by this idea perhaps more than ever.

I recently viewed a webinar featuring Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniels. She explained, “As a nation, we are at a low point of civil discourse and human behavior. It’s like the junior high bullies have taken over. It’s as if we have forgotten that people with different ideas are not our enemy. Many, if not most of our local churches, are purple churches.” 

What Rev. Daniels is referring to here is the image of the political spectrum of red on one side and blue on the other. Bring those two together and you get purple. 

“Eighty percent of the general population lies somewhere on one side or another of the middle,” Rev. Daniels said. “So it’s important that we drop the royal ‘we’ when we say ‘we’ and ‘they’ and think about who’s here with us, who’s listening, who is worshiping with us. And even beyond our church doors, who may be thinking a little differently but hold faith closely. Because Jesus dealt with a purple world. He healed, ate, and accepted outsiders. He challenged those who wanted to make a faith all their own and build up walls around their community. He affirmed the right of others to minister in his name even if that person was not one of ‘us’.”

To be clear, a purple church or a purple community is not a place where red and blue individuals are expected to start thinking exactly alike, but instead to accept and celebrate the differences. It is through a healthy diversity which makes the community stronger.  

It’s clear that Jesus welcomed and wants us to welcome any and all who desire to come to him. Rather than being the whiny lookout who calls out someone “not like us”, we are called to invite and celebrate the entrance of everyone who comes to be with us. For Jesus calls us to let them go and trust in God’s Spirit so that the community may grow greater and stronger. That whoever is not against us is for us. So let’s announce the Good News; that no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. At the purple church in a purple community.

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Todd Hackman is senior pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Monroe.