One of the things that God has put on my heart over the past year is unity. And the kind of unity I am talking about is unity among believers. I believe we are a divided group of people who are serving the same God, and it breaks my heart to see the things we let divide us. Even in a small community it is very hard to get more than 2 to 4 churches to try to work together. It seems like no matter what the cause is, we can't lay down our differences (which there really should not be that many) and come together in the name of Jesus and act as one body. The very idea that we cannot work as one body goes against the bible if you ask me.
When I read God's Word I take every word I read very literal. When something is made plural then there is a reason it is. And when something is made singular there is also a reason for that. And in Matthew 16:18 Jesus says to Peter "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it". If you notice Jesus did not say to Peter I will build my "churches"....He said church. And He did not say denominations! He said church because I strongly believe that Jesus wanted us to be one unity people who trusted, believed and worshiped Him. I think He wanted us to come into agreement with every word the bible says and not divide it up and decide which parts were going to be more important to us, which parts were going to be less important to us, and which parts we are going to pretend aren't even there. And let's be honest, isn't that what division in the church is really all about. It isn't about whether we believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God who came down from heaven...died for our sins...defeated sin, death and hell...rose on the 3rd day...ascended back to heaven and now sits on the right hand of God...cause those things we do agree on. Well, those better not be the things your church differs over or quite honestly I would suggest you find a different church! It doesn't matter what church you step into, those fundamental things usually are solid. However, you get beyond those things and that is where we let out minds and our opinions step in. One church believes healings still happen and another says they were just in Jesus' time. One church believes in the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and another church says there is only 1 God. One church believes in the gifts of the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:27-31) and one church says speaking in tongues is wrong. We will even argue about when you must be baptized and how. When will we ever get past this spirit of religion and get back to teaching people about why the LOVE of CHRIST brings us all together? And since I referred to 1 Corinthians 12, then you may want to also take a look at what that passage has to say about being one body. It states that we are ONE body, however we each play a different role within that body. Not because we should have different beliefs, not because one is more important than another, but because we are all gifted by God in different ways. God gave us each different gifts because He knew the church would need lots of different people to make things work right. But again, I do not believe He ever intended on us parking ourselves in different churches (denominations) and not helping each other, not interacting with each other, becoming defensive on our own personal beliefs or breaking down the very idea of the church that HE came to bring us. Acts 20:28 says "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood". So I ask, where along the way did we take the church away from Jesus and make it what we wanted? Where did we lose this idea that we are all one flock in HIS church. And lastly...how proud do you think God is of us somedays because of how well we are shepherding HIS church that He purchase with HIS blood?
Church, let's wake up! There are still so many lost and hurting people that need to be reached and until they see us able to come together in love and agree that Jesus is THE way...and that truly nothing else matters....how will we be able to show them how God's Word is alive in our lives?
God, thank You for Your Son. Thank You that He came and died to establish "the church". Jesus is the cornerstone that the church is built on and I'm sorry for how much we have divided it and turned it into something you did not design it to be. Please help us bring unity back into the family and come together in love to serve and point people toward You. You are the truth, the way and the life....may our lives reflect that. In Jesus name, Amen
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