THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - October 4, 2014 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:406). What are we to make of split between Catholicism and Protestantism and all of the scores of Protestant denominations with their offshoots and splits within splits within splits? How can we say that the Church is one, when it is, in appearance, at least, so very many? I was driving down South one time and went through a tiny little town in the middle of the Bible Belt where there were two Baptist churches across from each other. One really caught my attention because it was named Fellowship Independent Baptist Church. This seemed to be a contradiction in terms - almost like Unity Separation Baptist Church or Harmony Division Baptist Church. This made me chuckle, because I know how some Baptist churches can be - if you have fellowship with people who have fellowship with people who dont believe exactly what we believe, we cant have fellowship with you! This is, purportedly, because we are called to separation and the usual Scripture quoted (out of context) is II Corinthians 6:17 which reads Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. The problem is that the Lord isnt calling for Christians into separation from each other; He is calling them to unity! Colossians 3:15 says: And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body. That is almost the entire substance of Jesus passionate last prayer for the Church in John 17 where He prayed That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me (John 17:21). Jesus is saying that Christians ought to share among themselves the same unity in spirit, mind and purpose that He shares with His heavenly Father. On another occasion He was almost stoned for declaring: My Father and I are one (John 10:30). Of course, this is easier said than done, but the ideal which Jesus is praying for is what Paul also commends to the Church when he writes that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27) and Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind (Philippians 2:2). So what is Paul saying in todays passage? He is listing seven unities which all true Christians share and declaring that underneath all of the differences which we have, there exists only one Church which is composed of all those who are in Christ. Ultimately, there are only two denominations - saved and unsaved and only two destinations heaven and hell. When the final separation comes and Christ takes His Bride, the true Church to be with Him forever, it will be composed of every child of God who has been born into Gods family through the new birth of John 3:6 and saved by faith in His redemptive sacrifice on the Cross whether they be Catholic or Protestant, Presbyterian or Episcopalian, Lutheran or Methodist, baptized by immersion or by sprinkling (or by pickle juice as someone once accused a rather sour Christian), Southern Baptist or Fellowship Independent Baptist. Ultimately, we need to learn how to get along, because we will be spending eternity together in heaven, where, as far as I can tell, there will be only one denomination - Christian! -and our petty differences will melt away as we unite in glorious worship of the One True God. will be TWO EXTRAS: I do not wish to downplay important doctrinal differences between churches or to say that we should give our approval to un-biblical practices among our brothers and sisters in Christ. There are legitimate disagreements between Christians which may make it difficult to work together in certain ways. But Pauls point in speaking of our seven unities is to say that, despite our family squabbles, we are still one family and we should not let our differences quench our love for one another which is a signal to the world that Jesus is real. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35). The following are a very well-written commentary concerning todays verse showing how Christians can learn to handle their differences and a funny (if it werent so close to the truth) joke about the wrong way Christians sometimes take separation too far: From the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary:The true body of Christ (all believers of every age) is already one, as joined to the one Head. But its unity is as yet not visible, even as the Head is not visible; but it shall appear when He shall appear (Joh 17:21-23; Col 3:4). Meanwhile the rule is, In essentials, unity; in doubtful questions, liberty; in all things, charity. There is more real unity where both go to heaven under different names than when with the same name one goes to heaven, the other to hell. Truth is the first thing: those who reach it, will at last reach unity, because truth is one; while those who seek unity as the first thing, may purchase it at the sacrifice of truth, and so of the soul itself. __________________________________________________ The joke: I was walking across a bridge one day, and i saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. so i ran over and said stop! dont do it! Why shouldnt I? he said. I said, Well, theres so much to live for! He said, Like what? I said, Well...are you religious or atheist? He said, Religious. I said, Me too! Are you christian or buddhist? He said, Christian. I said, Me too! Are you catholic or protestant? He said, Protestant. I said, Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist? He said, Baptist! I said, Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord? He said, Baptist church of god! I said, Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god? He said, Reformed baptist church of god! I said, Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915? He said, Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915! I said, Die, heretic scum, and pushed him off. -- Emo Phillips
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 10:42:03 +0000
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