"Let us, therefore, make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food."
-Romans 14:19,20-
I think the church would look a lot differently if this is how we truly lived as Christians. If we really tried to build up and sharpen one another. If we rebuked our brothers and sisters when they were wrong, but also, if we allowed ourselves to be rebuked.
I think that's a major hold up in seeing this kind of life exist.
Pride.
I think we are so quick to point out the mistakes in other people's lives, but like Jesus said in Matthew 7:3,
"Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
Our pride gets in the way.
Our pride that says, we did right in that situation, even if deep down we know we didn't.
Our pride that always needs to be right.
So we argue until we feel like we've validated ourselves. But when do we ever convince someone through arguing? Their pride is just as defensive as our own, so what starts as a minor argument turns into a major one. People start taking sides in the major argument and since no one likes to be on the losing side, one side decides it's better to split apart than to reconcile. Is this how Christ wanted us to operate?
Will we ever be able to move past our own pride?
Can we learn to submit to one another for the sake of love, and for the sake of unity?
"Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food"
Usually the things we argue about in the church are such minor details in the grand scheme of things. What if we plugged some different words in for food?
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of contemporary worship
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of infant baptism
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of communion with wine
Let us continue to seek out the will of God in all things, but let us also understand that everyone won't always be on the same page about things. But that's ok. Let us continue to encourage one another and have peace. Let us not live in our pride, but in the name of Love.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Unity?
So i'd like to take some time to rant.
but i'd like to give some context to the rant, so here we go....
the church i've grown up in, [and am currently employed by] is part of the PC-USA. That is, the presbyterian church of the united states of america.
two years ago, the PC-USA's governing body, the general assembly started a process in which it was investigating the inclusion of clauses into the book of order allowing churches to allow people who are practicing homosexuals to be ordained as elders or deacons.
now this caused a big hullabaloo [isn't that a fun word?] in my church. and this was timed nicely with a close friend of mine who had also grown up in my church to confide in me that he was gay. so i sat through the process of our church discussing what these resolutions meant for the church, and had to see my friend sit through the same discussions where people were openly hostile toward homosexuals, to a pretty harsh degree.
now everything pretty much cooled off since then, but at the end of june, the PC-USA general assembly again met and proposed another resolution that would take out the terminology saying that an ordained minister needed to be celibate or in a monogamous male-female relationship, and replace it with language saying that they were simply living out and following Christ's direction in their life. So again, this is probably going to cause a big hullabaloo. A lot of people are saying that this could cause a split in the presbyterian church similar to the one that the episcopal church is currently undergoing.
and so with that large amount of background information, i begin my rant....
WHY IS THIS SUCH A DIVISIVE ISSUE?????
There are so many issues in the scripture that people take different opinions on: baptism, communion, speaking in tongues, divorce, abortion, women in ministry, homosexuality, etc. And i understand that people are going to have differing or changing opinions on these things. I mean, I don't have solid understanding or belief in most of these issues, and probably won't for some time, if ever. But should our differences in opinion over these issues jeopardize the ministry we can do as a united Body of Christ? [i'll use allen here as an example, because i know he reads this] If allen and I have different opinions on the roles of women in the church [which i don't know if we do or not] why does it seem to be the prevalent view in today's culture that I can't still minister with allen or work with allen because we disagree on that issue.
It seems to me that we would be so much more successful as a church if we had a wide breadth of people and opinions in that church that would speak to different people groups. Or is it better to have a church that caters solely to a specific group? The First Presbyterian Church of People who Believe in Baptism by Immersion and Speaking in Tounges But Not in Divorce or Ordination of Homosexuals [FPCPBBISTBNDOH for short] can be right down the road from the First Presbyterian Church of People who Believe in Baptism by Immersion, Speaking in Tounges and Ordination of Homosexuals But Not in Divorce.
i mean i know that's a bit silly, but doesn't that seem like the direction we're headed? Shouldn't we as Christians, more than anyone, be able to live with differences that we have with each other because we know we are unified in Christ?
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."
-ephesians 4:1-3-
If we really follow that, to bear with one another in love, i think it would be a whole heck of a lot easier to keep that unity. And i think we have these opinions because we make it about issues rather than relationships. For me, i never gave a hoot about homosexuals in the church because i didn't know anyone that was gay, and so when my close friend confided in me, suddenly it became personal. personal relationships make an issue so much more relevant. i didn't care about inner city ministry till i met people that lived in the inner city, till i met people that were poor or homeless. i may be oversimplifying it a bit, but Christ's ministry was about relationships, not doctrinal theology.
and with that Allen-esque blog, i think i'm done for the night.
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
-matthew 22:36-40-
but i'd like to give some context to the rant, so here we go....
the church i've grown up in, [and am currently employed by] is part of the PC-USA. That is, the presbyterian church of the united states of america.
two years ago, the PC-USA's governing body, the general assembly started a process in which it was investigating the inclusion of clauses into the book of order allowing churches to allow people who are practicing homosexuals to be ordained as elders or deacons.
now this caused a big hullabaloo [isn't that a fun word?] in my church. and this was timed nicely with a close friend of mine who had also grown up in my church to confide in me that he was gay. so i sat through the process of our church discussing what these resolutions meant for the church, and had to see my friend sit through the same discussions where people were openly hostile toward homosexuals, to a pretty harsh degree.
now everything pretty much cooled off since then, but at the end of june, the PC-USA general assembly again met and proposed another resolution that would take out the terminology saying that an ordained minister needed to be celibate or in a monogamous male-female relationship, and replace it with language saying that they were simply living out and following Christ's direction in their life. So again, this is probably going to cause a big hullabaloo. A lot of people are saying that this could cause a split in the presbyterian church similar to the one that the episcopal church is currently undergoing.
and so with that large amount of background information, i begin my rant....
WHY IS THIS SUCH A DIVISIVE ISSUE?????
There are so many issues in the scripture that people take different opinions on: baptism, communion, speaking in tongues, divorce, abortion, women in ministry, homosexuality, etc. And i understand that people are going to have differing or changing opinions on these things. I mean, I don't have solid understanding or belief in most of these issues, and probably won't for some time, if ever. But should our differences in opinion over these issues jeopardize the ministry we can do as a united Body of Christ? [i'll use allen here as an example, because i know he reads this] If allen and I have different opinions on the roles of women in the church [which i don't know if we do or not] why does it seem to be the prevalent view in today's culture that I can't still minister with allen or work with allen because we disagree on that issue.
It seems to me that we would be so much more successful as a church if we had a wide breadth of people and opinions in that church that would speak to different people groups. Or is it better to have a church that caters solely to a specific group? The First Presbyterian Church of People who Believe in Baptism by Immersion and Speaking in Tounges But Not in Divorce or Ordination of Homosexuals [FPCPBBISTBNDOH for short] can be right down the road from the First Presbyterian Church of People who Believe in Baptism by Immersion, Speaking in Tounges and Ordination of Homosexuals But Not in Divorce.
i mean i know that's a bit silly, but doesn't that seem like the direction we're headed? Shouldn't we as Christians, more than anyone, be able to live with differences that we have with each other because we know we are unified in Christ?
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."
-ephesians 4:1-3-
If we really follow that, to bear with one another in love, i think it would be a whole heck of a lot easier to keep that unity. And i think we have these opinions because we make it about issues rather than relationships. For me, i never gave a hoot about homosexuals in the church because i didn't know anyone that was gay, and so when my close friend confided in me, suddenly it became personal. personal relationships make an issue so much more relevant. i didn't care about inner city ministry till i met people that lived in the inner city, till i met people that were poor or homeless. i may be oversimplifying it a bit, but Christ's ministry was about relationships, not doctrinal theology.
and with that Allen-esque blog, i think i'm done for the night.
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
-matthew 22:36-40-
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