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Romans 14: 1 & 19  Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. ¹⁹ Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

 

Did you know that the world was created in 7 days? If you do not believe that, then you are not saved….Did you know that you should not drink even one beer, if you do you are not saved, did you know that the Sabbath is actually on Friday night to Sat night, and if you do not celebrate it then you are not saved, or if you use birth control, don’t speak in tongues, use real wine during the remembrance of the Last supper, smoke (even socially), cuss, don’t read your bible daily, wear too revealing of clothes,  and the list goes on and on and on….I think I hit the highlights, and most likely managed to get more than a couple people fired up and ready to scrap. How often do we hear things like this? How often do people we know spout this type of rhetoric, then in the next breath wonder why Christians are shunned, made fun of, attacked, and belittled? All of the things that I mentioned above, while some are bad habits, some might be choices we make, and others are actually tenants to some religions, they all have one thing in common, they all work to destroy our faith in each other. Imagine that you are on the outside looking in. There is this large group of the population, and they all lay claim to this belief in the Christ. If you talk to any of them, they will all agree the Christ is the Son of God, they will agree that He died for our sins, they will all tell you that sacrifice opened the gates of Heaven, and joined us forever to God, they will all tell you about forgiveness that is given, and how we too must forgive… but…(yep there is that word) but, the guys that say you can’t have a beer, will tell you that they are right, and the no birth control people are wrong, the people who speak in tongues, will tell you that both of them have missed the mark, but they are right, and none of them like the guys who hole Church on Sat instead of Sunday. Now looking at that  would you want to be a part of that group?

 

Now I know most people are saying Brian, it is not that bad, we all try to get along. TO that I would say sure….we try to get along. I am sure glad that Christ tried to save the world, and I am glad that God tries to forget our sins. What’s that you say? God does not try to forget our sins, He promised He would, and Christ did not try to save the world, HE gave His life so that we all might live? Trying to get along amongst ourselves is not something we should try, we MUST DO IT. I know that we are all called to follow the path we have, I also understand that some need the ceremony that comes with the Catholic faith, some need the guidelines that come with the Baptist faith, some need the acceptance that comes with the Protestant faith. As a result we all have the same core beliefs, but the nuances of how we choose to show that faith to the world differ just a little bit from denomination to denomination. That does not make one right, and one wrong. It does not make one better than the other, or one closer to God that the other, it certainly does not make one saved, and one not. I say these things not because I believe them, or because I said so, but because Christ told us how to live, we read throughout the Scriptures about love, peace, forgiveness, and coming to each other’s aid.  This is not my concept, it is Christ’s. HE did not send us out, and call us the living body of Christ only to have the arm, fight the leg, while the foot kicks the back. I dare say that the body would be so busy fighting itself that there would be little time left to do His work!

 

Have you ever gone to an interdenominational event? It looks like the first dace at a Jr. High. All the girls are lined up on one side, and the boys on the other. Someone else always has to make the first move, someone else always has to be the one to reach out. Someone else has to be the one to take the risk; and when that happens ohhhh watch out. When you put a group of Christians together and someone makes that move, suddenly all of that fluff, all of that extra baggage goes away. The work that then can be done is unbelievable, the amount of faith in one place, at one time is unfathomable. When the disputable matters are laid to the side, then we not only can have peace amongst ourselves, we will edify not just each other, we will edify God.

 

So yeah great, we all need to get along, we know it, and great, we can talk about it again for the umpteenth time, what you are saying Brian has been said over and over again. That is true, but what I ask of all of us is to be that change, be the one in your group to not just choose to reach out across the aisle on a personal level; be the person who pushes for the change within your group. Seek out opportunities to not just commune with those that think like you, but find opportunities to bring as many groups together. Strive to bring others together, and erase the lines of division.

 

We are at a strange place in the world right now. The world is watching the Middle East, they see the division between the different types of Muslim faiths, they see the struggle, and strife that it brings. Then they look at us. Sure, you can say that we don’t kill each other, but do we not look a little like that? We are not killing each other, but when we hold us these dividing lines are we not killing the very loving nature of God, the forgiveness, and unconditional love of Christ? We will stand up and demand not to be painted with the same brush, but are we holding our brother at arm’s length when we make that demand? We are one body, we are one group, we have one Savior, there is one salvation, and one forgiveness. Let us show the world the unity, the goodness, the righteousness that Christians are capable of. We might not agree on every little nuance, but we do all agree on Christ. Let us then follow His command, and love one another, love Him, and His Father. Let us be the united, not the divided, the forgiving, not the Judge, and most of all let us be One. That is how He made us to work!

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

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The Ridge Fellowship

 

Psalm22