4. Into one body

“The non-poor have a great deal in common with the poor from the biblical perspective. The non-poor are also made in the image of God, are also fallen, and are also being offered redemption."

— Bryant L. Myers

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Looking out at the Nile from a tourist boat

I've been to Uganda before, and a thought that struck me the previous times I visited struck me again on this trip. Culture, customs, and clothing styles aside, we're all humans. We are all made in the image of God, and that trait grounds us when other disparities seem glaring.

Toddlers fuss, teenagers rebel, moms nurture, and dads crack cringe-inducing jokes. We all cry and laugh and sing. And indeed, we all have a sin nature in common. Not even the sweetest, most angelic Ugandan babies are perfect. 

But even stronger than the familiarity of sin is the unity that believers share, all having been saved by the same Messiah. "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many." (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).

It is easy to feel like an outsider while a tourist in Uganda. It'd be all too easy to accept the title of muzungu, to agree that I'm a wanderer who does not belong. But when I recognize that not only are Ugandans just as human as I am, there is also a vibrant community of believers there who knows and worships the same Savior as I do.

That's a tremendously encouraging thought. Bryant Myers writes, "The non-poor have a great deal in common with the poor from the biblical perspective. The non-poor are also made in the image of God, are also fallen, and are also being offered redemption." The gospel is for all of us.