My church can beat up your church
You sometimes see childhood fights being portrayed as one child claiming "My dad can beat up your dad", as if the dads' ability to duke it out should determine the winner of the children's fight. It makes me think of how we view our churches sometimes. We take our personal preferences or the practices we are familiar with and we judge it as "THE way church is done". Maybe you prefer hymns and think that God can only be praised the way it has been done for a few hundred years. Or maybe you think hymns are confusing and difficult to sing and you prefer singing contemporary praise music. Maybe you have deemed this the only true way to worship. Maybe it is the version of Scripture you prefer to read. King James' Version is viewed by some as the "original" version of the Bible, as if Moses, David, Paul and the others penned their tomes in King James' English. Others view KJV as outdated and only teach from NIV, ESV, NASB, NLT or any other alphabetically named version. How about denominational leanings? I agree that we all have our own understanding of Scripture and how it applies to various aspects of our faith walk. Denominations are handy for helping us come together with others who understand Scripture the same way we do. But should we feel it is "us" versus "them"? Does Jesus really care if this group believes in certain gifts of the Spirit and the other group doesn't? Or how we baptize people? Doesn't Jesus have bigger issues on His mind? Like whether or not we have an authentic relationship with Him? Or whether or not people are dying and falling into eternal separation from Him?
The question this begs is "why?" Why do we feel the need to divide ourselves up along this line or that? Why do we feel that it's "us" versus "them"? Shouldn't we all be "us" together, united against a world full of lost souls dying without a savior? Couldn't our attention be better spent working together to end world hunger, cease the exploitation of the poor, end human trafficking, and, most importantly, to introduce the world to the hope we have through Christ? Jesus wasn't holding a picket sign damning the abortionist or homosexual who wants to wed. He didn't blame the poor for their plight. He came to feed the hungry, heal the sick, make the blind to see, make the lame to walk, and to bring us all into the inheritance of the Kingdom. He chose to give Himself away so that we could have an unhindered relationship to the Father. In my reading of Scripture I have never seen that Christ died for those who read a certain version of the Bible or for a certain denomination of believers. The worship style we prefer isn't going to get us to Heaven. Jesus cares about these things because of the heart that is behind them. He wants us to want to spend time with Him in whatever way is easiest or most effective for us. If that is our heart or motive then I am certain Jesus is all for it. However, if we are using these things to divide ourselves up and cast judgement on others, then I believe we have missed a big part of what Christ wants for us all, which is unity in Him.
The question this begs is "why?" Why do we feel the need to divide ourselves up along this line or that? Why do we feel that it's "us" versus "them"? Shouldn't we all be "us" together, united against a world full of lost souls dying without a savior? Couldn't our attention be better spent working together to end world hunger, cease the exploitation of the poor, end human trafficking, and, most importantly, to introduce the world to the hope we have through Christ? Jesus wasn't holding a picket sign damning the abortionist or homosexual who wants to wed. He didn't blame the poor for their plight. He came to feed the hungry, heal the sick, make the blind to see, make the lame to walk, and to bring us all into the inheritance of the Kingdom. He chose to give Himself away so that we could have an unhindered relationship to the Father. In my reading of Scripture I have never seen that Christ died for those who read a certain version of the Bible or for a certain denomination of believers. The worship style we prefer isn't going to get us to Heaven. Jesus cares about these things because of the heart that is behind them. He wants us to want to spend time with Him in whatever way is easiest or most effective for us. If that is our heart or motive then I am certain Jesus is all for it. However, if we are using these things to divide ourselves up and cast judgement on others, then I believe we have missed a big part of what Christ wants for us all, which is unity in Him.
Comments