Saturday, September 6, 2014

Just Thinking!

Just Thinking!

We seem to be living in a morally divided world.  In some ways, things are black and white while in other ways things are blurred and relative.  The problem is the lines of right and wrong shift daily.  Right and wrong often depends on the news of the day and how it is slanted. That is what happens when there is no absolute authority.  Unfortunately, that is the world in which we live.

This blurring and continual changing of right and wrong seems to have infected the Church too.  The issues are often different but the message it sends to our world is very confusing and often detrimental.  However, it really is nothing new as even the Apostle Paul dealt with it.  You've heard it numerous times, this denomination or church is right and that one is wrong or that one doesn't follow the Word.  More often than not, what they are really saying is, "They are wrong because they don't agree with our interpretation of the Scripture."

Maybe it is time for the church to be less rigid in their positions and leave the judgment of other churches and denominations to God.  The truth is we won't really know who had the right interpretation until we get to heaven because we can all proof text our positions.  Whether we are once saved or not; speak in tongues or don't; baptize through emersion, sprinkling or pouring; have traditional or contemporary worship; and the list could on.  When we engage in that judgmental activity we are really dealing with non-essentials and it is divisive and destructive to the growth of the Church.  The essential truth is Jesus is God.  He came, lived among us, died for us, rose again and is coming back.  He did all this because He loved us as we were!  Maybe that ought to be our focus.  Maybe it is time for Christ's Church to come together and unify under the essential things!  Isn't it time to live out what John Wesley said, "In the essentials - unity; in the non-essential - liberty; and in everything - LOVE"?

Unity in Christ's Church would do much more to evangelize the world than all our differences put together.  Unity would release the Holy Spirit to work in more powerful ways and demonstrate to the world what real love looks like.  That would be appealing and transforming!

Just thinking!

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