Good News for Both Sides of the Tracks

I live in Morristown, TN.  It's a wonderful place to live.  Morristown is best described as Small-town, USA.  There's a tight, family feel throughout the community.  We still have service stations that offer full-service.  Local farmers still set up their produce stands right in the heart of town.  My wife and I could not ask for any better place to raise our children.

There are some train tracks that run right through the middle of town.  The tracks run from east to west and most of the folks around Morristown tend to think of the tracks as something of a boundary line.  Everything north of the tracks is the northside of town, and likewise for the southside.

Generally speaking, most of the residents would probably agree that the "nicer amenities" are found on the northside of town.  Most of the nicer homes are found north of the tracks.  The largest and most ornate church buildings are found there as well.  The northside is also home to Morristown's country club.  I could go on, but you get the picture.

The southside of town is a little different story, especially towards the middle of the city.  A large number of middle income folks used to live in small homes on the southside of town, but many of them have now relocated to the suburbs.  Consequently, their old homes have either been sold or have been passed on to loved ones after their death.  Homes on the southside are often a little older, in need of repair, and many of them have become rental properties.  The southside of town is also home to the local Housing Authority, also known as "the projects" to most of the locals.

While driving over the tracks today, a thought occurred to me:  "It doesn't matter what side of the tracks you live on.  The Gospel is good news to everyone on both sides of the tracks."  We often like to put people in categories, but God doesn't do that.  The Bible says that "the rich and the poor have this in common, the Lord is the Maker of the all" (Prov. 22:2).  As such, the Gospel of Jesus Christ "is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes - first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Rom. 1:16).

How good it is to know that God's saving power and awesome love is not just good news for a few.  The death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior is God's gift to all mankind (1 Tim. 2:4).  That begs the question:  If the Gospel really is good news for everybody, why do we tend to share it only with those who are most like us?  Could it be that sometimes those on the northside of the tracks aren't interested in those on the southside, and vice versa?

Perhaps this will serve as a reminder to us that there won't be a set of train tracks running down the middle of heaven.  We'll only have one class of people in glory - the Bride of Christ.  God help us never to forget that we have the privilege of sharing His good news with everyone.  Maybe the greatest way we can honor our Savior during this Easter season is to share His Gospel with those on both sides of the tracks.  In doing so, we might be called "a friend of tax collectors and sinners" (Matt. 11:19).  That's OK - it won't be the first time that's ever happened.  I think it happened to a man from Galilee about 2000 years ago.