Do We Stand in the Way of Whom God Accepts?

This is a question I have been asking myself ever since I was engaged in a Scripture dialogue on Acts 10. Here we find a story about a Roman centurion (soldier) who received a call from God to go send for the apostle Peter. Before Peter received the centurion's servants he himself received a vision from God about a number of animals that were unclean for any Jewish person to eat, with the command from God to, "Kill and eat." Though Peter protested, this vision appeared three times with God responding in the same way.

When Peter made it to the centurion's house and learned why he had been sent, he began by stating, "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean." When the centurion shared with Peter what had precipitated his invitation, Peter began preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ to them. But before he could finish, we read in Acts 10 that the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. Peter and those who had come with him were astonished that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on these non-Jews, these Gentiles.

But Peter's response reveals that we should not stand in the way of whom God accepts. Upon seeing that God poured out his Spirit on the centurion and his household, Peter declares, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."

Too often it is difficult to accept people who are different than us. I am not merely talking about people from different cultures or ethnicities or races, but people who even "sin" differently than we do. Without getting into pitting one sin against another, whether one is worse than the other, or whether one can be a follower of Christ and still struggle with a particular sin -- especially if it is a sin involving sexual matters (these seem to be the ones that bother us the most), I would like to suggest a different approach.

It seems that the beginning point for receiving others as brothers and sisters in Christ has more to do with God's acceptance than what we are comfortable with. If we see, witness, or discern (as Peter did) that God accepts a person, who are we to stand in the way of whom God accepts?
Now I do not dare speak for God as to whom God accepts, but I have a hunch that God accepts far more than I am capable of. I may disagree with a person's perspective, a person's choices, even a person's behavior, but if I witness that God has poured out his Spirit upon them, then, no matter how uncomfortable I am with them, I need to be open to accept them as God has.

This creates a different standard for judgment. It is not my place or right to pass judgment on others. Rather, as I take note of the actions of God in relation to others, God's actions alone become the basis for my response to others. What I am discovering is that God accepts many more people than I am able to. In fact, God loves even those who reject an overture of relationship with him -- so there is no one outside the bounds of whom God loves.

Therefore, whomever God loves, whomever God accepts -- are persons I am called to love, I am called to accept.