This is a post I made on a thread over at ChristianWriters.Com -- thought it might make a good post here, all by itself.
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That's the problem with Protestantism -- we've been conditioned to believe that the believer who doesn't believe like us is "wrong." Maybe gravely wrong. Every denomination (and non-denominational church) was founded because no other denomination or church was doing it totally "right" (in doctrine or practice or worship style or ... ) -- otherwise our denomination (or non-denominational church) would not have been necessary.
I think that this "everybody else is wrong" mentality cripples our fellowship -- we can't seem to get it in our head that it's OK for other believers to not be like us, and not "get" what we're about, and for us to not "get" them.
If we Christians want to make a mark on this world, we need to give our brothers and sisters who don't believe and practice and express like us the grace to not believe and practice and express like us. Maybe we could even bless them in their different belief and practice and expression. Now that would be a radical expression of love.
4 comments:
One of the things about the freedom offered in the US is that is JUST SO EASY for anyone to go out and start a new church if they disliked anything at their old church. I'm not saying that we are to just paper over conflicts and disagreements, but it's like divorce ... we have just made it so so so easy.
Thanks for the encouragement.
That is how I feel when someone comments that I'm a calvinist like it is some disease and yet I have wonderful friends in Christ and we just agree to disagree. I don't love them any less and they don't me less. We aren't going to be arguing in Heaven that I got here by God's sovereignty and choosing or I got here by my own free will. True believers will be worshipping God forever and praising Him for being there period.
All I can add is AMEN AND AMEN.
dlc -- ab. so. lute. ly.
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