Ianterrell
Puritan Board Sophomore
One of the deepest pains I have experienced has been the hurt of seperation between brothers in the faith. It does hurt of course when we are seperated from brothers and sisters by emotional gulfs, but the pain that I am talking about is the pain of theological seperation anxiety. The sense that there is an unsolvable problem of doctrinal contentions across the span of broad evangelical Christianity. It is a great comfort to meet others who share your beliefs but the nagging itch of seperation continues to surface again and again.
Many have responded to this by minimizing the differences between opposing parties, deriding arguments as academic and trite. They see seperation as so injurious to the church that the actual differences should be ignored and or swept aside to produce a peace. This unity is false, condemnable and insulting to truth itself.
Others have no desire to debate; they have their theological commune. They think denominations are good things which allow differing opinons to worship in peace. After all, no one can be completely right so why stress over trying to prove the other side wrong.
This is certainly not the way I feel that the bible says to approach the problem of a fractured Church. The single statement of Paul alone should banish this kind of thinking far away:
"Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment." 1 Corinthians 1:10
and the Apostle indicates the comfort he would receive by hearing of the Phillipians being united in one mind (Phil 1:27, 2:2)
What can be done to unite both the hearts and minds of Christians that cannot worship together because of their differences? What are you doing at even the grassroots level to promote unity over the truths of Christianity?
Many have responded to this by minimizing the differences between opposing parties, deriding arguments as academic and trite. They see seperation as so injurious to the church that the actual differences should be ignored and or swept aside to produce a peace. This unity is false, condemnable and insulting to truth itself.
Others have no desire to debate; they have their theological commune. They think denominations are good things which allow differing opinons to worship in peace. After all, no one can be completely right so why stress over trying to prove the other side wrong.
This is certainly not the way I feel that the bible says to approach the problem of a fractured Church. The single statement of Paul alone should banish this kind of thinking far away:
"Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment." 1 Corinthians 1:10
and the Apostle indicates the comfort he would receive by hearing of the Phillipians being united in one mind (Phil 1:27, 2:2)
What can be done to unite both the hearts and minds of Christians that cannot worship together because of their differences? What are you doing at even the grassroots level to promote unity over the truths of Christianity?