Tribes. Acts 23.

In Acts 23, Paul gets a chance to tell his story to the Jewish leaders. But he doesn't even get as far as he did with the crowd earlier before he's treated violently. Once he realized that he wouldn't be able to give his testimony, he pulled a fast one. He shifted the anger that was directed solely at him, by exploiting the long-standing rift between the Pharisees and Sadducees that were in the group judging him. He appealed to his tribe, the Pharisees. Chaos ensued.

Tribal instincts run deep in us. Tribes help individuals and families survive better. They meet the physical and social needs we share has human beings. They are the source of what we call culture.

They are also often the source of conflict. One tribe claims territory that another tribe occupies. Twelve tribes entered the land promised to them by God. That meant other tribes had to be kicked out. Worse, tribes reinforce the idea of us and "the other." When someone or some group is the other, we don't have to think of them as human beings. We can justify all kinds of behavior because it's being inflicted on the other.

Paul's tactic had immediate results. This group that was there to judge him, to punish him, to stomp out a leader this Jewish heresy of those who follow Jesus, was fractionalized along tribal lines - Sadducees versus Pharisees. And the head of the Roman tribe had to protect Paul from the ensuing riot, because Paul was also a member of the Roman tribe.

Here's the thing. At the beginning of Acts we read that Jesus told His disciples to go to all nations, to all people groups, to all the tribes, and share His message of hope, of good news. God's tribe is all of humanity, and he invites everyone into His kingdom. Oh yeah, we're the ones who are supposed to extend the invitation.