Issues Don’t Divide Churches, People Do!
Perhaps the blog is just incredibly brief in its statement, but on the surface, this is one of the stupidest statements I have ever heard an evangelical pastor make.
It is not a certain issue that causes division; it is ego that causes division. It is not a certain topic that causes division; it is our human self-centeredness. The issues simply reveal puffed up egos.
It is possible to have a church with people of different backgrounds, different preferences, different tastes, and different likes and dislikes AND avoid conflict and division while accomplishing something for Christ.
By this definition, Jesus was an egomaniac who only thought about himself. Again, maybe the author was just way to brief. Maybe he’s only talking about preferences like pews or folding chairs. Or maybe he’s only talking about preferences like owning a building or renting a facility. But he doesn’t say that. What he says is that different backgrounds are no excuse for division. I’m sorry, but I am not going to be able to cohabit a religious body with someone from a 7th Day Adventist background, no matter how may times he sings Jesus Loves Me during the week. Sometimes, it is exactly that, issues, that cause division, and rightfully so. To pursue unity and ignore obvious error is just as sinful and twice as dangerous as causing division when it is not warranted.
Why is it that my voice always seems to be loudest when I am saying the dumbest things?
My take is that the author is addressing the local church. Because:
- “It is possible to have a church with people …”
- “In our church we have all kinds of varying preferences …”
- And so he is not talking about ” cohabit [sic] a religious body with someone from a 7th Day Adventist background”.
- And with regard to backgrounds … I’m surmising that “it’s not where one has been … but where one is” that is important. For example. My wife was raised R.C. & she his now a Baptist … I was raised Methodist and ditto for me
Totally aside, but why the sic after cohabit? Meriam Webster defines the word thus (granted it is the second definition but still):
a : to live together or in company
b : to exist together
Why is it that my voice always seems to be loudest when I am saying the dumbest things?
Discussion