How Jesus Divides and Unites Families — and Prayers for Kanye and Kim
By Michael Brown Published on October 30, 2019
How Jesus Divides and Unites Families — and Prayers for Kanye and Kim | The Stream
The words are striking and unexpected. Did Jesus, the Prince of Peace, really say this? As recorded in Matthew, the Lord said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34)
Not peace, but a sword? What exactly did He mean?
Jesus continued, "For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law — a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'" (Matthew 10:35–36)
So, the Messiah was not talking about a literal sword but rather a figurative sword. A sword of division. A sword that separated families, as one member would follow Him and another would renounce Him....
...We're watching this happen today with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian — something we could expect if his conversion was real.
He doesn't want their 6-year-old daughter to wear makeup or crop tops anymore. Not until she's a teenager.
In Kim's words, "It's a big discussion, a big fight in the household right now but it is what's best."
No surprise!
He's also uncomfortable with some of his wife's outfits, outspokenly so.
She, on her part, is confused. "You built me up to be this sexy person and confidence and all this stuff," she said. "And just because you're on a journey and you're on a transformation doesn't mean that I'm in the same spot with you."
And that's exactly how Jesus divides families. In short, someone might say, "One day we're getting drunk together and the next day you don't want to drink. One day you're mocking the Bible and the next day you're reading the Bible. I don't even know who you are anymore."
Exactly!
Unity in Christ
Yet there's much more to the story than division.
Jesus gloriously unites families, day and night, around the globe. The numbers are surely in the multiplied millions.
The conversion of one family member is contagious, bringing transformation to the rest of the family.
An estranged couple gets reconciled.
Family members who haven't talked for years forgive one another and unite in tears and hugs.
A violent, substance-abusing teen becomes a model youth, impacting his siblings dramatically.
And on and on it goes. What a harmonious symphony Jesus brings!
Pray for Kanye, Kim, and Their Family
When I saw that Kanye's conversion seemed very real, I said to myself, "If so, there's going to be some conflict in the family. After all, how would a godly man feel about his wife being a sex symbol and posting nude selfies online?"
And so, the ripples that are being reported are a sign that God is really working in Kanye's life. But that means He's also working in Kim's life as well, along with the children.
Let's pray that Kim, too, would be radically converted, discovering the love of God and the beauty of holiness. And let's pray that the transformation would spread through her entire family, right into her stepfather's life as well.
All things are possible with Him.