The conversation concerning the disagreements among Christians seems to be appearing in every area of my life. At work. At church. And at home. Having a husband who is also in pastoral ministry and who enjoys reading all five volumes of The Christian Tradition by Jaroslav Pelikan for fun increases the chances of theological conversations around the house. Discussions around the dinner table often center around the Rob Bell “controversy,” thoughts after reading N.T. Wright’s Justification (his thoughts, not mine), or more recently, the ever-growing division among denominations in the Protestant church.
It seems that recently, the lines of who is right and who is wrong, who is saved and who is not, who is holy and who is a heretic have been drawn with a large black Sharpie. These lines are drawn by people saying, “I am right, so you must be wrong.” And lately, it seems to be going even further. We no longer draw our lines and move on: now, we draw our lines and stand there, spewing insults at one another. We leave our church and go to another denomination or start a new church–a better church.
Jason, my husband, wrote a blog about this very issue after one of our discussion on this topic. Here is just one small portion, but you can read the entire blog entry here.
“We can say that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of our denominations but let’s be honest, we don’t live that way, and deep down, I don’t think we really believe it. We are quick to debate theology and acknowledge what makes our church/denomination superior to the folks down the road. We are a shattered and divided people. ”
Is it inevitable that, as Christians, we remain divided? There may always be debate, but does that debate always have to be so vicious?
Photo Credit: Robert Hruzek
Good post Rachel. I feel the same way. It leaves me wondering: Are there too many connection points where people who disagree can interact? Do blogs (and the capability to comment), Facebook statuses and Twitter feeds lead to more open conflict than we had before?
I’ll spend this weekend at a denominational church and at an independent church worshiping King Jesus! I can’t wait! My neighbors have heard so much about this non-denom church and since they want to go there, we as Christ’s witnesses acquiesce to what the Spirit desires not our denominational hankerings. All debates aside this to me is living in the flow of Christian unity that all might be saved.
Thank you for your post. I really resonated with a lot of what you had to say. I think it is very unfortunate that so many people take a position of “i’m right so you’re wrong.” unfortunately for us as nazarenes, it’s in the DNA of pretty much everyone. those that are “concerned” about the way some of us our talking about Scripture feel it’s their right and duty to tell us that we are going to hell for believing differently, and we’re in the same denomination. that’s not even distant cousins, but spouses and siblings.
In many ways, i am the same way. I think they are “wrong” so i just right anyone who thinks that way as ignorant or even worse, want to tell them where they are wrong and how Jesus wouldn’t like the way they are treating us so they better watch out. but that’s not Christ-honoring behavior either.
But i know there is hope. In our little town, we have around 30 churches. We came here to start a new church around 3.5 years ago and upon arriving got contact by another pastor who is from a denomination that is a little more loose with the gifts if you know what i mean. He was inviting us to a prayer lunch with other pastors in the city. After brushing him off for months, we finally decided to check it out and we are so glad we did.
At the lunch is black, white, and hispanic pastors, Baptists, AoGs, Methodists and everything in between, including us Nazarenes, all sitting around the same table eating together, fellowshipping together and praying for our city. We host 3-4 all-city worship services a year to celebrate our unity within our diversity. We gather under one Name and lean on that. We don’t argue over who”s right and who’s wrong. In fact, if someone comes in with the agenda to pick a fight, they don’t stay long because there’s no one to back them up. We love each other, we love Jesus, and we recognize that it takes all kinds of tribes/congregations/styles/churches/denominations to reach the diverse community we live in and we just understand that while it may not be the way that we see, or the way we would do it, that God will use it. We stick to what we know God has called us to do and let Him worry about everything else.
I guess it comes down to family. When you live in the same house with someone, you’re much more likely to be ugly/mean/frustrated with them when it comes to disagreements. There’s a familiarity and so you’re a lot harder on them.
Some times i’m a real jerk to my wife and I have to come back and apologize. I don’t realize i’m doing it till it’s done. We’re so close that I expect so much from them. But what I’ve come to realize is that there are times i have to consciously extend grace and love. Because she is my wife, I must honor her with my tone of voice, my attitude, and my actions. Jesus gave Himself up for the church, and I need to be willing to give myself up for her.
We all must realize that even those people that don’t think the way we do, wether they are in another denomination, or across the aisle, Jesus died to bring them into the family, it’s not our place to kick them out.