Drawing Lines 03/22/2026

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today

Not everyday is golden
Some are too messy
Others too dreary
Mistakes made
Battles lost
Amends insufficient
Not enough resources
Regrets
Resentments
Hurts
Tears

But even on these days
Days of struggle
Of hope against hope
Of the trying one more time
But not succeeding
Even these days
Are days of grace
Days of learning
Of growing
Of persevering
Of mercy
Of new hope
Of repair
Of redemption
Of salvation
Moving
Our hand in Your hand
Steady and calm
Inching toward wholeness
Peace
Shalom

Thank you, Lord
Thank you
Amen

Morning Talk: Guest speaker, Sean Kappauf

The Passage: Galatians 5
The Big Question:
When did faith become more about the lines we draw than the love we live?

We all do the internal calculus:
• Can I be friends with someone who voted differently?
• Can I worship with people who read scripture differently?
• Can I belong here with my doubts, questions, and messy parts?
• Can I still call myself a Christian if I don’t fit the mold?

“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of
slavery” Galatians 5:1
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing
that counts is faith working through love.” Galatians 5:6
“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters… through love become enslaved to one
another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment: You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

What Paul Is Saying
The Galatians were being told: ‘Sure you believe in Christ, but if you really want to belong, you need the
right boundary marker to prove you’re in the club.’
Paul’s response: Christ has already set you free. You already belong. Not because you:
• Managed your worthiness
• Checked off the right boxes
• Voted the right way
• Believed the right things
We still do this today; we just changed the markers.
• Back then, it was “circumcision”
• Now, its politics, theology, culture, image

The same question lies underneath it all: Do you qualify to belong?
And every time we make belonging conditional on something other than love, we drag ourselves back
under the weight of performance. Back into the anxiety of, ‘Am I enough?’

Two Different Starting Points
The Religious Approach
Start with TRUTH, which exempts us from showing mercy, but still call it “love”
The Jesus Approach
Start with LOVE, which leads to mercy, and ultimately the truth.
It’s easier to draw lines than to love people who stretch us.
It’s easier to label someone than to sit across from them.
It’s easier to win an argument than to carry someone’s story.
In starting with love, we’re not removing truth; we’re re-ordering it.
• Not because truth doesn’t matter
• Not because “anything goes”
• But because love is how truth becomes visible
When love comes first, truth doesn’t disappear. It actually finds an opportunity to be received.
Religion often starts with truth as a weapon. But Jesus starts with love as a “way in”; and somehow, when people are loved, they become open to the truth.
What if we approached the person we disagree with, not as a threat to convince, but as a neighbor to love?

What Freedom Is For
Freedom is not a reward for people who finally get it right.
Freedom is the environment God uses for out growth.
Freedom is the medium God uses to mature us.
God doesn’t wait for us to become perfect before He trusts us with freedom. He gives it to us now,
knowing we might misuse it. Because love cannot be coerced. Love requires freedom.
The law’s goal was always love.
Not boundary-policing.
Not line drawing. Love.
When we live in freedom for the sake of love, our aperture for seeing where Christ is already at work
expands.
We see neighbors, not projects.
We see people, not categories.

This Week: Practice It

1. Identify one boundary marker
   Name something you’ve been using to decide who belongs. Be honest about it. Ask God to widen your vision.
2. Have one conversation with someone you would normally avoid
   Not to fix them. Not to win. Just to understand. Start with curiosity and see what happens to your heart.
3. Notice where you’ve tied your worth to performance
   Where have you been quietly asking ‘Am I enough?’ Hear this again:
   “For freedom Christ has set you free.”
   You don’t have to earn belonging. You already have it.

The Bottom Line
We don’t have to guard the made-up lines anymore. We get to love.
Not a life where “anything goes”.
But a life where love leads;
where our hearts are wide enough to see God at work in places we didn’t expect;
and where our arms are open enough to serve people we once avoided.

For freedom Christ has set us free.
So let’s live free.
And let’s love like it.