identification and a view of others

One of the things we often see in the American Christian sub-culture is a tendency to link patriotism to being an American with what it means to be a Christian. This then builds a sense of entitlement and elitism within American Christians. The end result of this is that our identity as American's in many ways supercede's that of our identity as followers of Jesus and his way. When this occurs we begin to equate the blessings of our nation with the blessings of God, which then tends to cause us to look down on other people groups and nations who are not as rich or powerful and we equate that with a lack of blessing from God on them.

All of this leads to a spiritual elitism which is inevitably tied up with our standing as Americans, which then leads to a sense of us (Americans) being the new "chosen" people. Once the sense of being "chosen" settles into our being, it is very easy to look down upon and even neglect those who are of the "unchosen."

This is what the early first century Christians had to overcome. Their standing with God was wrapped around their identity as Jews being the "chosen ones" of God. This caused them to look down on others and not want God's blessings/favor to fall onto others.

So...here's is something worth discussing.

* How does our identification as Americans get in the way of how we view others?

* How does our identification as American's get in the way of our own faith?

* It took a vision to the lead disciple for the early church to change their view of others. What might it take to change us?