Belonging and not belonging

He came to his own and his own people did not receive him John 1:11

Sometimes our search for belonging ends up empty because we do not realize that life as a believer is always full of paradox and tension. Why? It is because our Lord and Master is full of paradox and tension. Fully God and fully man. Poor and rich. Weak and powerful. One of the most striking paradoxes is that he belonged and did not belong. As a jew he belonged to the jewish nation. As a human he belonged to humankind. He was naturally connected to these groups and had an affinity for them. We also are connected to many groups and affinities. I myself belong to African Americans. I also belong to the hip hop nation. I belong to Fuller Seminary as well. On and on it goes until finally there is the tension of not belonging. When we side with Jesus we find ourselves in the predicament of not belonging to this world. We are then called to not only be accepted but to be rejected. The call of God demands this of us because it is the path that God chose as he became man and walked this earth. It is a call to be marginalized and rejected; to be on the outside. This is where our true calling lies. It is in belonging so much that we are touched with the infirmities and weaknesses of others. It is in not belonging so much that we can speak up for those who are oppressed. You will never be a part of the "in" crowd because Jesus wasn't a part of the "in" crowd. He was ghetto and the people in the ghetto of galilee and judea rejected and despised him to the point of consenting to his death. When we belong and do not belong we are bound to encounter the cross and inevitable death. If this is the case then our only consolation is the resurrection where we will most certainly see that all along and throughout eternity we belong to God.