 |
| Pandemonium by John Martin |
"Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" Romans 15:5-6
"Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." Philippians 2:2
I have a friend who points out that Scripture tells us many places that we are to be like-minded. He's right. But what does it mean to be like-minded? Does it mean we're to agree on everything? Or is "like-minded" more like "keeping the main thing the main thing," to be agreed on who the real enemy is?
In the next several weeks, I'll cover various controversial topics. And when I'm done, you'll know what the correct view is on every issue, right? Wrong! My goal in this is to try to encourage us to realize we're on the same side, with the same Savior, with a common enemy. Too often, there are people who have the uniform of the Lord's army, considering those not in that uniform their foe, and declare war on the Lord's navy, the Lord's marines, the Lord's air force, the Lord's coast guard, the Lord's national guard, and the Lord's local police departments.
Of course, there are things that divide the saints from the ain'ts. Jesus is either God or He's not, and that is an essential. We either are saved by God's grace or we have to do our part, and that is an essential. Either the Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God or it isn't. But there are many who agree on these issues that disagree on others. Yes, there are those who want to unite with those we should be divided from, but there are too many who want to divide from those we should be united with.
I've heard some say on any particular issue, "We can both be wrong, but we can't both be right." To be honest, I doubt many who take that view really believe that both sides can be wrong; they just are certain that I'm ever right when I disagree with them. This is based on a presupposition that I don't love God as much as they do, that I haven't studied the Bible as much as they do. But that presupposition is wrong, both ways.
Of course, dealing with free will and predestination will be one of the topics, but let me use it in pointing out that God desires us to realize His Church will have diversity on several issues. If He gave us free will, then we have the freedom on which side of a second or third tier issue is and still be part of the Family of God. If He didn't but predestined us, He obviously fashioned us to have different views, or we wouldn't. I remember a cartoon where two men were standing with their backs to each other and the one on the left had his arms crossed, and the wife of the other man said, "He can't help it if he's predestined to believe in free will."
Let me close this intro by asking for you to pray for me as I write this. My goal is to aim for unity, not division. My goal is when I present an opposing view, I do it in such a way one holding that view would say I accurately presented their view.
One last comment. You noticed I titled this "Saturday Controversies?" And you also notice I usually post on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays? I thought of having this series on Sunday, but I didn't want Sundays to be a day of dealing with disputes. So I'll be posting on Saturdays instead of Sundays.
No comments:
Post a Comment