We Speak As One by Kelly Durant 1-11-15 2014
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be
no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same
mind and in the same judgment.
2. Have you ever gone to cheer on a sports team and once you
get inside the stadium you are all hyped but yet let out a cheer for your team
only to discover you are sitting on the wrong side? Ha! That happened to me
twice going to High School games with my kids when they were teenagers! We had
to walk fast to escape to get to the opposite side!
Don’t you like it when you are supported and surrounded by
others that are on the same team as you? Of course, right? There is a reality
in the world we live in, it is divided into sports teams, nations, religions, languages,
music tastes, races, and sadly into different branches of Christianity. At
least Christianity only has a few dozen divisions and not 500,000 registered
gods as the Hindus in India! Basically all world religions are divided by differences. Why do some kill over these things?
Let’s examine preferences, when you choose a sports team, for
example, what is your motivation? Do you choose them because they are the most
popular locally or nationally? The most rich? Or do you analyze the details to deduct who
are the most talented and accomplished? Do you support them because your family
supports them and you don’t dare go against the flow to support another? What
attracts you to “The Heat”, or “The Dolphins” etc. Have you ever asked yourself
why you support them? Some support others just because they are underdogs! I root for the humble!
3. I grew up in a home where sports were rarely mentioned, so
anyone can like whichever team they choose and it is all alright with me! My
subject today however, is not sports, but rather the divided up beliefs and convictions
in the world of faith. Here is a good question, can you answer why you follow
what you believe in your Christian faith? Is it personal, or just going with
the flow of family?
I know most of you here can answer that you have your faith
because it is real to you! You had a deep experience with the Lord and you keep
on having experiences with God and prayer so it is real to you because you have
received answers and experienced the love of God from others! So your faith motivates
you to worship and fellowship, am I right? There is point where human logic
fails. Our love and convictions are all by faith and we can’t explain them in
detail, we just know that our faith works. It is like electricity, you turn it
on and it works as an unexplained invisible energy producing light and results
with evidence.
I think most Christians are convinced that their faith choice
is the best and that they are on the right team with Jesus Christ. When you
compare it to other religions that worship with so many strange rituals,
superstitions, charismatic figures, and cruel mandates of submission you
discover no comparison exists with the love that Christianity offers! Eternal
life with Jesus who resurrected is the only way to go, no doubts! The Holy
Spirit has touched me thousands of times, making my hair stand, making me
breathless, filling my insides with indescribable emotions. And you? At age 20 I
tried other religions for a year to compare, and with yoga I meditated for up
to 2 hours daily with only a mild relaxation occurring. The conclusion is other
religions claim purity by placing so much emphasis on harsh discipline, on the
diet, and on mental dominion but all of them are a let down because God’s
spirit is not present in their vain practices. Christianity has no comparison
at all with all the other religions in the world! You are
blessed to not have wasted your time as I did! But sadly today around the world
many lost souls are submitting to religions of violence and cruelty.
4. Now let’s dig deeper into the differences that exist in
Christianity and why people choose the church they choose. When we think of choices
you must first consider the society at large offering the choices. How many
choices are legitimate? Why does a majority of a certain type of people choose
a certain type of church? Why do smaller churches seem to be more like family
and dynamic?
Christianity is in a free market here and the person of faith
can discover, participate in, and support whichever one they deem as best,
right? I find that ours (Salvation Army) does the best in serving the needy, so
this is principally why I am serving here, for the effectiveness of preaching
the gospel with deeds of compassion. We have the perception that in the U.S. A.,
a presumptuous liberty, that Christianity can be tailor fitted to our likings. Beware
of that! But in many countries no church choice options exist except one or two.
For example in Russia the Eastern Orthodox Church dominates about 75% of the
Christians and the rest are a few Catholics and a few evangelicals!
We can thank God that still today, because others fought for
it, there is the liberty permitting interpretational differences allowing
different denominations because otherwise the one single power monarchy of a
church-state does not offer anyone a favorable alternative. Note from history:
the all-powerful authoritarian church has already been tried for centuries;
however, it gravely has proven to have missed the mark most of the time in
representing a true example of the kingdom of God.
5. We are aware that, ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’.
Considering history is always repeating itself, we see waves of dictatorships,
then some waves of democracies, and then the pendulum swings back again. It is
time we analyze what we are choosing as a society! Are Christian churches going
to be able to remain united despite the damaged relationship with the powers
that be? We do our best to comply as in Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject
unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be
are ordained of God. But the balance is Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered
and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you
more than unto God, judge ye.
Here is the forever dual dynamic, Jesus even said it, Matthew 12:30
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad. Despite your denomination of choice, you either have loyalty
to God and the church, or you are investing it elsewhere. Christians serve in
their church where they give their time, money, and loyalty. But the people of
the world are always occupied with giving their time, money, and loyalty to
someone out there expecting a personal gain in return, such as what is gained within
a political party. The real religion of billions of people in the world is the ‘self’
and this creates severe divisions and walls of separations amongst ourselves;
this divides nations, churches, and communities. Many people today sadly exalt
their own selves as a god, as Satan does, and they live as narcissistic belligerent
beasts benefiting no one, abusing everyone around them to achieve their selfish
ambitions. These people scatter and confuse and we are fed up. But being turned
off by these kinds of people is what produces a thirst for righteousness within
us and causes those tired of man’s injustice to his fellow man to discover
Jesus’ love and truth!
Have you noticed the church is taken to be as a power unto
itself, and the governments are always jealous and in competition with the
church’s influence and authority? When the authorities perceive the church is
apathetic or quiet concerning their corrupt activities, they usually do not
care what activities the church does. But when a government becomes overzealous
coercing submission, becoming totalitarian, imposing inconvenient laws just to
exercise power, then the church and the righteous people will obviously clash
with them. It is then when the government starts seeking to eliminate the
competition! Remember John 15:18-21. All denominations must remain united on
what is right and what is wrong!
6. So all of this is leading up to a certain question, can a
Christian in today’s world of diverse denominations, of diverse political
convictions, with diverse stances on controversial issues, with great divides
in cultural viewpoints all speak the same thing in the same faith? With some
yes, but with some no! Speaking the same thing as mentioned in the verses above
is referring to not getting divided into silos of doctrinal differences offered
by the teachings of trending famous denominational personalities. I hope you
are loving and friendly when you disagree with others, sometimes we make
enemies of friends unnecessarily!
It is simple: A true Christian shares a familiar spirit with
another true Christian! But we must reveal truth when a certain so called
Christians tries to make you feel stupid if you don’t accept their denomination.
Today there are some churches teaching outright heresy. Pseudo-Christians are
dangerous!
I Cor. 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am
of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ
divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Let’s make it real here in the Corps, what if some of you said I like best how
the Captains teach the Bible, then another said, no CSM Pantoja does it better,
then another says, Major Lopez is best; all of this kind of talk would be
ridiculous, right? Each has a unique style and each is of value! We can improve
on our unity. Who will try to talk to someone they usually don’t talk with
today?
7. I actually believe we are for the most part on the same
page in our church/Corps and we respect each other’s distinct ways of sharing God’s
word and we do not have doctrinal divides. This is maturity and this respect
for the Holy Scriptures and The Salvation Army beliefs are true and basic. The convictions
we have here are in general the same as most all the Christians in the world as
well!
When you take it further in comprehending our cohesiveness,
our one-mindedness in Christ, there actually is a unique bonding of convictions
amongst us. In our case most all of us have lived in other countries and we
have experienced certain horrible oppressive political realities that other
people are unaware of. We understand and appreciate the same things in life
because we all love God appreciating the freedom we have to worship and
fellowship. We all want to serve others and win hurting souls to Jesus.
I am bringing this matter up because in general, you and I
will see more and more churches dividing up and separating in this country over
internal controversial issues. All of us here are in full agreement with the
way the Salvation Army represents the kingdom of God. In general our practice of
Christianity is a faith of one in action with compassion serving the poor, and
suffering!
8. So what is the problem with divisions? Why are other
churches following different teachings and then not having much in common? The
answer is simple; it is the trending sins of the culture that blurs their
vision! A sin is any practice that separates us from our Holy God and it feeds
a person’s pride and thus produces corruption. Sin in the camp does what? It
offends God (and people as well), and any church that teaches sin as acceptable
would be considered like the Galatian church, bewitched! (Galatians 3:1) We can
study that book another day!
Churches divide when they change their doctrines, heed
gossip, or get blindsided by someone’s sin creating scandal. The issue at stake
is unity and that is relational to how much holiness and purity are being
practiced by each individual member. How damaging some so called Christians are
to the faith when they persist on accepting trending new marketplace doctrines
inciting unnecessary division!
If you and I are living holy lives, in righteousness, sharing
the gospel, being obedient, praying and being connected to God’s will then it
is natural that over time we will grow in faith and unity in the same mind with
the same convictions overcoming the divisive oppressive sins in ourselves and
in the world. We all speak the same thing being led by the spirit when we are authentically “in Christ”.
9. There is in the world a general consensus and 2,000 year
history as to what right is and wrong is, and what is or what is not Christian
practice. All true Christian churches
esteem all general basic Biblical convictions concerning morality, sexuality,
the respect for life, etc. As a general rule, we all understand and speak the
same thing despite our church affiliation of choice.
Today there is a new threat as a new breed of faithless people
are not respecting the Bible as the infallible truth word of God. These
opposing powers, be they governing forces, other aggressive religions, or even heretical
churches, are condoning behavior we know to be immoral, sinful, and damning to
the soul. These crafty ones distort or mock the context of the Holy Scriptures in
order to justify their actions and by doing so they contradict the established
statutes of God which have been respected for centuries. We live in a day of
apostasy.
These people are not speaking the same thing as what we
accept as Christians but instead they have teachers and propagandists telling
others what they want to hear. May God give us the discernment and
righteousness to expose false propagators! May God give us the bravery to speak
up against all kinds of corruption, which produces oppression! Corruption manipulates
others and is a form of oppression in the end. Jesus message is for the freeing
of the captives!
In the end we are to show love and patience to each other in
the church and in the community and never allow ourselves to be divided especially
by race or creed! We are all on the same Christian team! In heaven there will
no longer be any more divisions of denominations as we will all know the
absolute truth. So stand firm with other sincere Christians even though not
every detail lines up. United we stand, divided we fall! Never forget the enemy
is always seeking how to divide us here! Recognize a divisive voice and rebuke
it! Do you pray for our unity? The real enemy is out there and practicing much
evil! Prayer…
No comments:
Post a Comment