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Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:3-6)
When I was younger, my best friend (a cat lover) and I (a dog lover) would often argue which made superior pets: cats or dogs. No matter how many times we went round and round, we always ended up exactly where we started—each of us firmly entrenched in our original positions, wondering how the other could be so blind to what was so obvious. We felt sure that the other was…well…wrong.
Rivalries seem to be built into the fibers of our beings.
Republican vs. Democrat
Mars vs. Venus
Yankees vs. Red Sox
We’re not shy to promote our points of view. When we encounter rivals the exchange might be good-natured or a bit more “heated.” In the end we’re usually confident our thinking is right and the other person is…well…wrong.
But what happens when we bring this rivalry and single-minded thinking into the Church? It has certainly led to a lot of us vs. them in the body of Christ.
Evangelical vs. Mainline denominations
Liberal vs. Conservative
Traditional vs. Contemporary
What started as one unified Church has become over 33,000 Christian denominations worldwide and over 6,000 in the United States alone (World Christian Encyclopedia). Churches have split over every conceivable point of pride, passion, practice and preference. It seems a lot of believers think plenty of others are…well…wrong.
I’m passionate about my faith, but I can be single-minded. While I’ve experienced the Church in ways far bigger than the four walls of my home church, I still hold points of view that I think are right. I might not have God in a box, but he’s certainly in a fenced yard.
A while ago I met someone who challenged my way of looking at Christianity. Our deepening conversations revealed seemingly great differences in the way we experienced God. Her ways didn’t sit well with me and a rivalry developed. Deep down I felt my views were right and my friend’s were…well…wrong.
For a while I tried to nudge her in my direction. But instead of changing her, God started to change me.
Through a wise teacher I learned the Almighty is multi-faceted—like a diamond. Through the ages different churches and cultures have focused on different facets of God’s character (like love, suffering, knowledge, worship or relationship). Each aspect is good and perfect, but each of us sees incompletely.
There will never come a time when someone says, “Aha! I got it! You can stop searching, I have God all figured out.” Truth isn’t relative but for now we see dimly. When we grip our view of God as absolute truth—not allowing room for others’ views—rivalries turn from friendly to contentious. According to Oswald Chambers, “Jesus said, ‘Go and make disciples,’ not ‘make converts to your opinions.’”
I realized that my friend and I weren’t fractured: we just focused on different facets of God. What united us—faith in God through Jesus—was far greater than what divided us. Though it pained me tThe Pharisees were were confident, self-righteous and proud of their extensive knowledge of God. Yet when they encountered Jesus, He showed them a view of God that didn’t into the box they constructed, so they rejected the Truth when it stood right before them.
I don’t want to make the same mistake. Do you?o set aside my zeal and respect her views, I eventually opened my fence to let God be “bigger.” Because in the end I want to know Him more than I want to be right.
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Kelli
Awesome God, Ordinary Girl
What an excellent post! In my spiritual journey God has SO shown me the truth and revealed Himself to me in ways I did not expect! It has reminded me that I make God sometimes so much smaller than He is. And truly He changes and transforms all of us–values, beliefs, struggles, all of it for His good, if we surrender all! Thanks for an excellent reminder to let God be God.
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Fabulous post – and reminder. God is multi-faceted – so many ways to see him.
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Excellent topic, Kelli!
Most of us have been guilty of the same thing…trying to get someone else to understand that our way of thinking about something is the RIGHT way. But when it comes to the Body of Christ, as believers we are all His adopted children. Differences in our style of worship, traditions or rules are not as important as the things that we have in common. It is not for us to determine who is doing it better and who has it wrong. We are not the gatekeepers of salvation and eternal life…HE is. Personally, I doubt he is going to keep someone who loves Him out because they prefer (or have been raised with) hymns over praise music, or monthly communion vs weekly communion, or confession via a priest versus silent, private confession.
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My dad used to say, “We’re all wrong about something, and it’s probably something we’re sure is right–so be humble!”Thanks for reminding us all about unity!
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Kelli, unity is the focus of my current blog post, too. I even used the same scripture you started your post with!
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I really like these devotions, and often want to print them to read aloud to a small group that I meet with once a week, however I find that they are impossible to print in a way that allows it to be legible! Even when I attempt to adjust the page settings it somehow won’t allow the devotions to be printed. Just the header and pictures print? Can this be fixed?
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I’m glad to know the Spirit is still uniting us even though we don’t see each other much. Yesterday the words “multi-faceted” and “diamond” popped into my mind. Indeed we cannot fathom the One who unites us, but it’s so cool to discover the ways in which He does.
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Wow, what a great post and this is making me think about how multi-faceted God really is.
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I remember God wanting me to learn something new about Him and His tool box for me. He knew I had pride – but He kept watering that planted seed that I said I didn’t want – because He knew I secretly did but was too scared to believe! God is more multi-dimensional that we allow ourselves to believe.
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Kelli…
The older I get, the more willing I become to move the fence a bit… not about God’s truth but about the varied backgrounds and experiences that lead us all to the table of grace. There have been great seasons of “pride and control” in my life as it pertains to the way I “do church.” In the end, not much of it has served the kingdom very well. I want to be a kinder, gentler, more loving version of the woman I now am. I think, perhaps, it’s taking a long season of silence and introspection to get me to that place.
That, and a lot of grace!
peace~elaine
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