No Division
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:10 "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and same judgment."
I love Paul's heart for unity in this passage, and the centrality of Christ in his focus. Later on he rebukes the Corinthian church for claiming to follow Apollos or Peter or Paul, instead of Christ, because their focus was all wrong, they were so caught up in which preacher they liked or didn't like that they forgot that they were supposed to be worshiping Jesus! Their aim was completely off, the Corinthian church got a letter (2 actually) because they were blinded by the little things that didn't matter for the sake of worldwide enjoyment of Jesus. And if that doesn't feel like a punch to the gut when you think about Calvary Severance then you've never been to one of our business meetings. Christ's heart is for us to worship him and him alone and to be a united front in that matter. Is that not the primary function of the church? To worship God in unified corporate enjoyment of Him? We are too caught up in things that don't really matter, namely, our opinions. Please don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying that I have no opinions about how our church building should look or function. I'm not saying that I have no opinion on who my favorite preacher at our church is. And I'm not saying that I have no thoughts on what songs we should sing. BUT I've been convicted by this passage that discussing these things are not usually fruitful for our church body, as it takes Jesus right out of focus of our affections, and puts us there instead. Yes God is sovereign so he cares about little things too, but that's his job not ours. I've been trying to memorize Ecclesiastes 5:2 for a while, it says "Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few." Friends let us keep this reality from Ecclesiastes in mind as we function as a church. The words that exit our mouths as a church body should first be praise to our King, and second encouragement for one another, not our different pointless opinions on this or that. To close, when Shrek said "better out than in" he wasn't referring to our small-minded view on how the Bride of Christ should function. I praise God for you, and the opportunity to live together in full surrender to our King and His opinion!
Grace and peace,
I love Paul's heart for unity in this passage, and the centrality of Christ in his focus. Later on he rebukes the Corinthian church for claiming to follow Apollos or Peter or Paul, instead of Christ, because their focus was all wrong, they were so caught up in which preacher they liked or didn't like that they forgot that they were supposed to be worshiping Jesus! Their aim was completely off, the Corinthian church got a letter (2 actually) because they were blinded by the little things that didn't matter for the sake of worldwide enjoyment of Jesus. And if that doesn't feel like a punch to the gut when you think about Calvary Severance then you've never been to one of our business meetings. Christ's heart is for us to worship him and him alone and to be a united front in that matter. Is that not the primary function of the church? To worship God in unified corporate enjoyment of Him? We are too caught up in things that don't really matter, namely, our opinions. Please don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying that I have no opinions about how our church building should look or function. I'm not saying that I have no opinion on who my favorite preacher at our church is. And I'm not saying that I have no thoughts on what songs we should sing. BUT I've been convicted by this passage that discussing these things are not usually fruitful for our church body, as it takes Jesus right out of focus of our affections, and puts us there instead. Yes God is sovereign so he cares about little things too, but that's his job not ours. I've been trying to memorize Ecclesiastes 5:2 for a while, it says "Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few." Friends let us keep this reality from Ecclesiastes in mind as we function as a church. The words that exit our mouths as a church body should first be praise to our King, and second encouragement for one another, not our different pointless opinions on this or that. To close, when Shrek said "better out than in" he wasn't referring to our small-minded view on how the Bride of Christ should function. I praise God for you, and the opportunity to live together in full surrender to our King and His opinion!
Grace and peace,
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