“This should be a good gift for the chief!” said my husband standing up from my lower kitchen cupboard, holding up the large, filigree bedecked glass container filled with liters of golden liquid we had extracted from the honeycomb ourselves.

A meeting with our local chief is an essential part of our lives. As missionaries in Zambia, Africa, finding favor during these appointments can open doors to remote village preaching opportunities. Or close them if we didn’t follow proper protocol.

1. All men are equal and are equally guilty before our creator. 

Understand that you’re guilty of breaking God’s Law and what that means for you. The Bible says we’re all sinners (Romans 3:10,23), and that sin can be defined by breaking His commandments (1John3:4). It’s not about which sins you’ve committed, because you may be saying that you haven’t done anything THAT bad to deserve a punishment as severe as hell. The key point is with who you’ve offended. The consequence for sin is death and an eternity in hell because we’re guilty of offending and breaking God’s law. (2 Thessalonians 1:8)

2. All men are powerless to save themselves

Realize that there’s nothing that you can do in your own power to save yourself. The Bible repeatedly says that our good works are not good enough to bring peace between you and God. (Romans 3:28 ; 4:4-5; Ephesians 2:8-9 ; Titus 3:5) Because you’re already guilty before God, there’s absolutely nothing you can do in your own strength to change your position. (John 3:16,18) The issue is not about reforming your actions, it’s about admitting your guilt and changing your heart with what you believe. (Isa.64:6; Jeremiah 17:9)

3. All men must repent

Turn from anything you previously were trusting in and believe in Christ’s sacrifice. Repentance is when you admit that what you were trusting in was wrong and then to change the object of your faith. (2Peter3:9) For many, countless people trust in their own goodness for their salvation. The general idea is that if your good works outweigh your bad at the judgment, you’ll be fine. As we’ve already seen in the Bible, this won’t work because no one is good enough. If you’re currently trusting in such good works, your church, your baptism or good morales, then these are the things you need to “turn from” in order for you to fully put your faith in Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 7:10; Acts 17:30). Being a good person is a great thing but if that was what God wanted for salvation then why did Jesus die on the cross? (Galatians 2:21)

4. All men must accept Jesus Christ

Accept that Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sin. As we’ve seen, there was an offense against God, a conviction and then lastly a sentence from the great Judge, Himself. Even though our sin is enough to condemn us to hell, Jesus took our place and died as a substitute for our transgressions (Isa.53:5). By trusting in what Jesus did, we’re accepting our guilt, our sin and our inability to change our outcome. We’re admitting that we have no power to save ourselves and that we’re simply not good enough. Jesus died for you and He’s the only one that can offer forgiveness for your offense against God (Rom.5:19; 10:9,10,13)

Everyone has a tribe that they belong to. When you hear this word, you might envision a primitive people that live in some remote, African village marching off to do their daily fishing ritual. I can’t imagine that your particular social group is going to break out in a fishing dance later today at the office. However, in the broader sense of the word, you do in fact have a tribe. It could be with family of whom you share common ancestry or perhaps with friends that come together with shared interests and goals. Other factors such as religion and faith play a vital role in people’s lives, with those they share a common belief system with often becoming their people. Belonging to a group and gaining identity is certainly a good thing to have, that’s community. But what happens when our loyalty to our tribe becomes greater than it should to the exclusion of others around us? This is the danger of tribalism.