“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-- mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?” 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

One of my strongest desires, that has been with me since I became a Christian, is to see unity between believers; that oneness with the Father and Son and with each other that Jesus Himself desired and prayed for His disciples. Shortly after I became a Christian, the church I attended decided to write a document that all those who would want to be in leadership, teach or serve were required to sign. This document was not based on Scripture, but on someone’s personal interpretation of Scripture that had become a tradition in this denomination and on the jealousy of one of the church leaders of another. The result was more than a third of the congregation left this church fellowship. This was my first encounter with persecution and the evil of division and strife that can harm Christ’s Body. It grieved me then and it grieves me now, for it is still going on in some churches today.

Once again, I find myself thinking about the issues that Christians stand on which cause division and quarreling. I find them to be based on personal interpretations of singular portions of Scriptures rather than the whole counsel of God. In fact, it seems God is not consulted at all. What makes us, Christians, so divisive over certain religious traditions or interpretations of Scripture?

These divisions and quarrels do not spring from the foundational doctrines of our faith or who is God and what are His commandments. They are about “how” we worship and serve the Lord our God. In fact, we too often neglect our Lord’s commandments while fighting over whose best at serving Him or what’s the best way to serve Him. What disrespect of our Lord! He has directed us to service done in love (for Himself and for each other) in humility and with grace. He has said the greatest work is to believe in Him whom He sent and to love one another as He has loved us. How?

For three years He loved and ministered to the very one who would betray Him; the one who would deny Him; the ones who would run away; the one who would not speak up in His defense when He was falsely accused. Yet He loved them and forgave then; and, let them continue to serve Him and with Him, except Judas who killed himself. “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not things present, nor things to come, no powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Think about it.

Categories: discipleship

Labels: discipleship

# posted by John & Sherron @ 10:32 AM