Why We Need Each Other
by Matt Lott of the band Wavorly
Sometimes I don't want to go to church.Some weeks, it's just hard for me to get up and go. Yeah, laziness is no excuse for missing church, but it has happened. Other times, my reason for not going starts with nagging thoughts about some of the people who've hurt me. Or people I've had bad experiences with at churches. I think about some of the people who don't seem to represent the name of Christ too well. Thinking about those experiences makes me want to stay home.
When I read the IYF article, "The Cure for Loneliness," it hit me that maybe I wasn't really giving the people around me much of a chance. Maybe my attitude was messed up. Maybe I misunderstood the purpose of church.
The article refers to a phrase in the Apostle's Creed that just kept coming back to me: " … the communion of saints." This really stuck out in my mind because it made me realize that the communion of saints includes everyone, including people like me who aren't very saintly at times. And having all those people together is important. Why?
The author quotes John 13:35. It reads, "If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples" (CEV). We have to love and support our brothers and sisters in Christ. It's how we show God's love.
That helped me see that I'm often so concerned with loving the lost and reaching out to the unsaved that I forget my own Christian brothers and sisters. I don't support them as much as I could, I don't commune with these saints, and I even use some of them as excuses not to go to church! It's easy for me to let small hurts stand in the way of loving my brothers and sisters in Christ.
This article reminded me that the love I show my fellow believers will help those who don't believe see that Christ's love is for everyone, no matter what we've done or what we struggle with. I also am reminded that I should be happy to have opportunities to be with other Christians in church. Because by learning to love other believers as they are, I am modeling the love of God.
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
One Body in Christ
Excerpts from Don Cobb’s “One Body in Christ”
“Every church (denomination) is, like every person on the planet, right about some things and wrong about some things. That’s right. I said every denomination is right about some things in their doctrine which pertains to Scripture, and wrong about some things in their doctrine which pertains to Scripture. Man’s intelligence is limited. Our interpretations of Scripture, of which there are many conflicting interpretations, are always a combination of wisdom revealed by the Holy Spirit with a dash (or two, or more) of Man’s Imperfection. Therein lies the problem. It isn’t that the Protestants are right and the Catholics are wrong. It isn’t that the Pentecostals are right and the Methodists are wrong. It isn’t that the Adventists are right and every other Protestant denomination and the Catholic Church is wrong.
It’s that all of us are wrong about some things, and all of us are right about some things. All of us. Every Christian denomination. This is a fact which is true of the entire body of Christ.
Despite the massive efforts to declare that one denomination or another “Isn’t Christian”, the Bible defines clearly what makes us “Christian” in Romans 10:9-10, which includes all believers: “...that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” There you have it. Right? Apparently not. Not to some denominations, at least. We have among us, in our own family, brothers and sisters who insist that others who attend a different denominational church service than they are not Christian because of how they worship, because of their understanding (interpretation) of Scripture, because of many things. If these issues, these differences of opinion in how we interpret Scripture resulted in the loss of our salvation, I would be quick to say that probably most, if not all, Christians will ultimately be cast into the Lake of Fire. Fortunately for all of us, how we interpret Scripture has no bearing on our salvation…
What makes you “Christian” is not about whether or not you believe in dancing. It’s not about whether we worship on Saturday or Sunday. It’s not about whether or not you support killing babies before birth. It’s not about whether or not you believe that the healing power of Christ Jesus or in the baptisms in the Holy Spirit are “for today”. And it’s not about whether or not you prayerfully ask Mary to intercede on your behalf. If you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe He was raised on the third day, you are Christian. What makes you “Christian” today has nothing to do with what version of the Bible or even what other books you read…
The world laughs at us for the way we criticize and condemn each other over doctrinal differences. We’re not exactly the best witnesses for Jesus when we’re spending so much time telling other believers that they aren’t Christian. Are we? No. “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. What part of that don’t we Christians understand? Jesus wasn’t talking solely about Christian neighbors. He was talking about every neighbor, and yet we can’t even put His clear instructions into practice within our own body. It’s a safe bet we (many of us Christians) aren’t doing any better of a job at loving our non-Christian neighbors as ourselves than we are at loving our Christian brothers and sisters...and we’re failing miserably at loving our own family—the body of Christ…”
“Every church (denomination) is, like every person on the planet, right about some things and wrong about some things. That’s right. I said every denomination is right about some things in their doctrine which pertains to Scripture, and wrong about some things in their doctrine which pertains to Scripture. Man’s intelligence is limited. Our interpretations of Scripture, of which there are many conflicting interpretations, are always a combination of wisdom revealed by the Holy Spirit with a dash (or two, or more) of Man’s Imperfection. Therein lies the problem. It isn’t that the Protestants are right and the Catholics are wrong. It isn’t that the Pentecostals are right and the Methodists are wrong. It isn’t that the Adventists are right and every other Protestant denomination and the Catholic Church is wrong.
It’s that all of us are wrong about some things, and all of us are right about some things. All of us. Every Christian denomination. This is a fact which is true of the entire body of Christ.
Despite the massive efforts to declare that one denomination or another “Isn’t Christian”, the Bible defines clearly what makes us “Christian” in Romans 10:9-10, which includes all believers: “...that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” There you have it. Right? Apparently not. Not to some denominations, at least. We have among us, in our own family, brothers and sisters who insist that others who attend a different denominational church service than they are not Christian because of how they worship, because of their understanding (interpretation) of Scripture, because of many things. If these issues, these differences of opinion in how we interpret Scripture resulted in the loss of our salvation, I would be quick to say that probably most, if not all, Christians will ultimately be cast into the Lake of Fire. Fortunately for all of us, how we interpret Scripture has no bearing on our salvation…
What makes you “Christian” is not about whether or not you believe in dancing. It’s not about whether we worship on Saturday or Sunday. It’s not about whether or not you support killing babies before birth. It’s not about whether or not you believe that the healing power of Christ Jesus or in the baptisms in the Holy Spirit are “for today”. And it’s not about whether or not you prayerfully ask Mary to intercede on your behalf. If you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe He was raised on the third day, you are Christian. What makes you “Christian” today has nothing to do with what version of the Bible or even what other books you read…
The world laughs at us for the way we criticize and condemn each other over doctrinal differences. We’re not exactly the best witnesses for Jesus when we’re spending so much time telling other believers that they aren’t Christian. Are we? No. “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. What part of that don’t we Christians understand? Jesus wasn’t talking solely about Christian neighbors. He was talking about every neighbor, and yet we can’t even put His clear instructions into practice within our own body. It’s a safe bet we (many of us Christians) aren’t doing any better of a job at loving our non-Christian neighbors as ourselves than we are at loving our Christian brothers and sisters...and we’re failing miserably at loving our own family—the body of Christ…”
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
