THANKFUL FOR YOU DAY 193 - In 1 Corinthians Chapter 1, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. In verses 10-17, he pleads with them to not be a church divided. In verse 10, he writes – “ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” It is without a doubt that this was written for Believers as opposed to the general population. The words “brothers and sisters” comes from the Greek word adelphoi which refers to Believers or members of God’s family. The problem, however, is that we are a big family . . . a really big family. Even so, Paul’s admonition was pretty clear – “all of you agree”; “there be no divisions among you”; and “be perfectly united”. There isn’t a whole lot there left to interpretation. Boy, that’s an issue because we Believers love debating and arguing over who will actually end up in Heaven. (Which presupposes that some of our faithful are really not part of the faithful, and therefore will not be in Heaven.) There have been wars fought between the Catholic and Protestant faiths, and yet both claim Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. The Christian Identity movement has determined that only white people could possibly be Christians as all others are not even human. (These folks are really going to be surprised to learn that Jesus wasn’t lily white.) One of my personal favorites was a sign I saw recently – The United Separate Baptist Church. There is a way for all of us to be united. We simply need to take Paul’s greeting and make it our own for all – and I do mean ‘all’ – of our fellow Believers. Paul greeted them with words of endearment and love – “I always thank my God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.” So this is how this would work – “I always thank my God for you my Catholic Brother and Sister because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.” Try this one – “I always thank my God for you my African Methodist Episcopalian Brother and Sister because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.” What about, “I always thank my God for you my Messianic Jewish Brother and Sister because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.” Of course, this could go on and on with all the Methodists, Presbyterians, Charismatic, Pentecostal, various forms of Baptists, In Jesus Name Only (snake handlers), and so forth. Instead of highlighting our differences, how about we speak of the one thing that unites us – Jesus Christ. We can do that with this simple greeting. Give it a try next time you meet a Brother or Sister of a different denomination. It’ll feel good. More importantly, the Holy Spirit will confirm in your soul that its right. By the way, “I always thank my God for Y-O-U because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.” C2013
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 10:30:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015