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. 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)
I’m about to say something not so shocking; people can be argumentative! There, whew! No, seriously, there have always been a few willing to argue about the color of the sky, but in general, we can be stubborn and unyielding on things of little value. Of course, when this happens, the result is divisiveness, often followed by bad behavior on both sides, the unyielding person and the offended person.
An agitated Paul was writing to a divided church. They had separated themselves into cliques; one group followed Paul, another Apollos, another Peter, and others Jesus (1 Cor 1:3). The Jesus group wasn’t any better than the others–perhaps even worse–because they were using Jesus to divide: “We’re the Jesus party, so we’re right.” No, the problem was the skirmishes over which party was better kept the church from being authentic to Jesus’ uniting message.
Similarly, today, while doctrine may separate us–we may hold different ideas about baptism and communion, and our worship may be different—there are essential truths that unite us. As followers of Christ, we believe in one triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe Jesus is divine and human; he was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, buried, and rose again. He did this so we might be freed from the bondage of sin. The Bible is the sacred and authoritative word of God. We believe in eternal life offered through Jesus Christ. While we may be different denominations, there is only one Bride, Body, and Church.
As Christians, those are the truths we must cling to–the things that unite us in mind and thought.
Father of All, thank You for Your perfect love that unites us. We thank You for Jesus Christ, both divine and human, who died to save us. We thank You for the Holy Spirit, who lives within us and guides us in righteousness. And we thank You for Your sacred word. Father, forgive us for the times when we are obstinate and argumentative. Help us to be more yielding and agreeable. Open our ears for listening, our hearts for understanding, and our mouths when we must speak with gentleness and compassion. Help us unite with a single purpose: to share the good news of salvation with others. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
Comments