"Behold how good and how blessed it is when brothers dwell in unity" Psalms 133:1

I have grown up in the church of Christ for over 33 years and have attended churches across the nation. What I see is a paralyis, caused by our division. But God has not called us to division, there is one Church, God calls us to unity. Time and time again in the scriptures, he calls us to be one, to be united so that we can effectively spread his Word to the world. But yet, we continue to focus inward and argue rather than focusing on the billions of lost souls who have not heard how God can change their lives.

Where do we find our unity? We find it through Christ. When we are made new in baptism, we are joined to the body of believers. Romans 7:4 states that we are joined to "Him who was raised from the dead." Why? As we finish the passage, we read; "in order that we might bear fruit for God."

When we are divided, our ability to bear fruit is gone. We are called to "accept the one who is weak in faith," and "bear the weaknesses" of our christian family.

Does that mean that we do not ensure that the truth is being upheld? By no means! Our example is found in I Timothy when Timothy is time and time again told to "hold firm" to the truth of God's Word. But don't stop yet, read the entire letter and you will see that he is also told to treat those in the wrong like family. This means that we bring the "truth in love" to one another. God has not given us authority to judge one another. In fact, in Romans, judgement is forbidden; "Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

We are called to "be of the same mind." If God, through Paul, would deliver such a message, it must be achieveable. But, it is only achievable if we show true christian love to one another.

Col 3:8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth….put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

It is my hope, my prayer, that we can put aside the decades of inward focused division and stand firm "in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith of the gospel."

In christian Love
Mark

Mark,

I agree that God calls us to unity, although I did think it some what ironic that you judge the church and then say we shouldn't judge. I believe if we would put more time into saving souls, we would have less time to be divided. I believe there is only one way through Jesus Christ and that there is but one body. As you mentioned, we must hold on to the truth, but we must also speak the truth in love. shawn

Shawn,

I had not intended to sound as if I am judging the church or those members. My intention was to discuss the effect of the divisions and the resulting effect of God's Word not being delivered to those outside the body who really need it.

POINT TO PONDER:
The corporate worship is only about 3% of our lives as christians. (168 hours in a week...4 to 5 hours spent "at the building") We sleep about 42 hours (assuming about 6 hrs of sleep) which leaves us with 120+ hours a week to be shining lights in our community. While I am sure that God will not look favorably on unacceptable worship from an unclean heart, I know that if we are not using the 120+ hours to do his will, that is to seek and save the lost, we will face His judgement. To put it in earthly terms, if you only focused on 3% of your work and got it 100% correct but neglected or had very poor performance for the other 97%, how long would you keep your job?

MY MAIN POINT:
The hand, foot, ears, and eyes must work together to drive a car. We, as the body of Christ, must work together to reach the lost. Now, my question, my hope for discussion here is; How can people who disagree so strongly come together to do God's will? How can we take those who have traditionally been labled as "Anti" and have them work with those traditionally labled as "Progressive" or "Liberal" to evangalize the city that they live in?

In Christ,

Mark

I appreciate what you had to say Mark. You seem like a very well-meaning, sincere guy. I really feel like this is a good place to hone patience skills as well as learn to be a peace maker. Many have lost site of Jesus' love and the fact that He said, they will know you are my disciples if you love one another. Paul stressed that above faith, and hope was love. Isn't it ironic that we often try so hard to be right, that we are wrong! Most of Jesus "condemnation speaches" were against the very people many have become...pharisees. It's sad to see that fervor and intially passion, go to extreme links of hate and bitterness, all in the name of "truth". I'm definitely not an open arms guy, but it seems too many "concerned members" type themselves out of grace and into legalist (boot strap, don't need Christ's blood) "religion". Again, I think if we were spending more time sowing seed, we would have less time to be picking and looking for "dirt"! Thanks for your comments Mark. Keep up your kind, godly desires and pray! God is the only One who could ever help all the problems of humanity!

IT'S A HEART THING

I do not dispute that we should strive for correctness in worship. Nor do I disupte that there absolutely must be a balance between emotion and logic.

But righteousness and holiness does not start with our actions. It starts with our heart. The first major public speach in Christ's life was the sermon on the mount. He stated again and again "You have heard it said..." and then he spoke of some action and then "but I say" then he would talk about what was going on in your heart. Look at Simon the Sorcerer, his fault was a heart problem. This is a recurring theme and a major difference between the old and new covenants.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE CORPORATE WORSHIP

Notice when Christ talks to the woman at the well. When she asks where we should worship, he tells her that true worshipers will worship in "spirit and truth." Again, what happens inside our heart (mentally/spiritually) is what is most important. But yet, at many churches of Christ, we still insist and argue that you have to wear a suit and tie "to church." We still insist that we meet at "the church" 2x on Sunday, and 1x on Wednsday night (at 7 ot 7:30). If even these things that are not based on scripture are challenged, we get in a tisy.

First and formost, we are the church, if you and I go out into a farmers field in the middle of West Texas, we can corporately worship God. God made worship simple. He did not give us an entire Levitical law to define when, why and how we should worship. Can I use instrumental worship? You could easily tear down both side's arguments on this subject but the truth is, I don't have to have an instrument to worship. As I said, you and I could worship with our voices anywhere.

I agree that the elements of our worship are all based on things that were done in the first century, but the way we have combined them into such a cerimonial fashion is more based on things done later in the church history after Constantine and the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church.

For example, I lead singing from the pulpit. Where in the bible does it authorize song leaders or even suggest that there should be song leaders or a pulpit on a stage? Now, we can see how the song leader makes the singing more "orderly." No big deal on this one. But yet, what we see in teenage devotionals where various kids start songs from their seats is probably a more accurate representation of what happened in the homes where people met in the early church.

BACK TO THE MAIN POINT

Many of the things we do in the corporate worship are good and correct. They provide order. Their form supports the function of worshiping the Lord in "spirit and truth." However, we, like every other denomination out there have made corporate worship (2-4% of our week) define who we are as christians. We have made it too easy to put on a christian costume on Sunday and Wednesday night and then go home to live out the rest of our week.

Correct actions and an incorrect heart do not please God. But a heart that loves God (the greatest commandement) and is striving to please God is pleasing to God despite incorrect actions. We just have to read Romans to see Paul talk about his strugle to do what is right ("I do what I don't want to do and I don't do what I need to do")

There are more references in the New Testament to Unity and Love for God and one another than there are for how we worship, but yet so much focus gets placed on worship. Our growth is not based on what we do for a few hours on Sunday, it is based on what we do the rest of the week. If we are not constantly worshiping God, daily being renewed/transformed into his image, and seeking the lost, we are failing. If we could be unified, we could get the message of God's love and sacrifice to the whole world. BUt yet, here we sit, divided and, in many ways, defeated.

In Christ,

Mark

Mark,

The division is NOT between the anti and the liberals. It is between the mainstream and the progressive/liberal.

I have watched this division occur for many years. It is my age group that started the main process for the latest rounds of change. (divisions began at the onset of the Church). As a preacher's kid in one of the South's large metro areas, I know more about the truth behind the change than most people. The death of the Church is due to the changes that are being forced on congregations across the nation by young, upward mobile, egocentric, selfish, spoiled adults.

Stop!!! Before you get onto me for being so honest and blunt, let's remember that you can't fix a problem until you acknowledge the problem. We can hide our heads in the sand all day and speak pretty, sweet words about our members - but it will not resolve anything because the words are false. We have to find out what started this change, why it occurred, whether it was needed, and if it has gone too far.

1. What started the change?
Cultures go through cycles or swings. Victorian to Flapper, Hippies to Preppies, etc. The young become easily bored and seek new things, excitement, more feelings, more, more, more. Our nation had gone through a subdued time in the Church where we had fallen asleep. The 70's and 80's had graduated a lot of Christian kids that did NOT have a deep knowledge of the Bible and it's original Greek meaning. Their understanding was shallow at best. They were ripe for the plucking. They were not prepared for the real world and all it held. They were not prepared for all the new religions popping up everywhere. Kids were going to these new religions in droves - they were fun, exciting, spirit filled, hand clapping, happy times. The Christian colleges and congregations had not prepared their students and they were no match for these new feelings. They couldn't debate scripture as the could barely find a verse much less understand it.

2. Why did the change occur?
For the same reason it always does, we needed to "feel" more. We needed more excitement. We live in a fast paced world with instant access to everything. Did you expect it would not influence our religious attitudes? Christ and the Apostles talk about a quite, simple type of worship. Yes, it does include love, joy and happiness, but it also required organization and structure. The Bible states to learn in quiteness and to become quiet in your learning. To temper your joy and excitement and keep it from becoming "paganistic". These commands were not appreciated by the younger generation - especially after seeing how the nondenominationals were dancing around, clapping, shouting - just like at a Pep Rally. My generation wanted that same feeling, no matter what the Bible taught. We only knew our parents had said it was wrong. But where did the Bible really say it? Did God really mean for it to apply to our well-educated, highly technical culture? No way. We were smarter than the 1st Christians.

3. Was change needed?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, the Church had fallen asleep. Indepth study was no longer a priority. Lack of evangalism and spiritual growth led to a backlash. We needed to gain in knowledge of God's Word and the TRUTH. We needed to put aside our wants and desires and really tune into God's commands. We needed to take that knowledge and return to the trenches - spreading it to others. We needed to acknowledge our youth and prepare them for the World. We needed to stop pretending that we were "perfect" and never sinned. We needed to lean on each other and share our good and bad times. We needed to become a family again. These things were not exactly missing, but were in short supply.

Did we need to change our beliefs? No. It was based on the entire scriptures in their original intent. Our worship service was as close to the original as we could get. I'm not talking about when we prayed vs. took communion. I mean we were following the example set forth by the Apostles. Our worship service is almost exactly as the early church elder's letters described their services in the 1st and 2nd centuries. No paganism was allowed - no musical instruments, clapping, theatrics, dancing, etc. These were all considered mortal sins by the church elders that had studied under the Apostles.

4. Has it gone too far?
Yes, oh yes. The progressive churches have left the majority of the scriptures behind. They are so far off the path that they truly should change their name as to not be associated with the mainstream church of Christ. They cause confusion to new Christians and their own new members. A debate with their members usually has me closing the Bible as they ignore most of the scriptures I show them and call it "legalism". Ahhh...such open-mindedness...NOT.

If I abide by the scriptures and trust in God's power to apply to all mankind throughout all the ages (he is powerful you know!), then I cannot acknowledge these progressive churches as members of Christ's church. They do not follow all of God's commands/Truth/Word. They follow their own personal needs and desires.

How can a true Christian dismiss sections of the NT? The Progressive churches do. How does a True Christian ignore the following scriptural facts?
the role of baptism in our salvation
the command against women as teachers/leaders of Christian men
the example of worship that Jesus set
the command to SING (not play) with your heart
the command that ALL must sing (that leaves out any wood/brass players)
the command to remain steadfast in our beliefs and to remain so until He returns
the command to admonish and even turn away from false teacher
the warning that false teachers would be here and cause division in the Church
the command to NOT be of this world
the command to pray in a dark room alone rather than show off your Christianity
the command to live a quiet, devout, subdued lifestyle
the command to NOT cause others to stumble
the command to NOT get drunk
and the list continues....

How does a true Christian accept the following additions to the worship service?
Baby dedications - (did we not dedicate our ENTIRE LIFE to Christ when we were baptized? Who are we trying to prove our Christianity to now? Makes a good show though...)
Woman deacons - (TRUE greek scholars know that there is NO discussion of a woman in the position of Deacon and that the word for deacon (in common use) actually means "servant". It is also simple logic to understand that the Bible commands a Deacon be married to just one wife - unless you believe that includes practicing married lesbians - which leaves out a woman from the position. Again, who's need are we trying to fill here?)

Again, I could go on and on with this list of additions that are not authorized and cause division in the Church.

The main thrust of this long-winded posting is that the progressive churches have progressed right past the Bible. They have left behind large portions that are just as important as the "love" parts they kept. You can't take out parts you don't like. God states that will keep us from Heaven.

Remember Christ's warning - narrow is the path and few there are that will find it.
That's NARROW and FEW. Doesn't leave one with the impression that all we need to do is love him and spread his message. In fact, we know many will have taught in his name and he will not know them at judgment day.

again PPB,
Thats scripture as YOU interpret it and have been taught.
What makes YOUR interpretation right and everyones elses wrong?
Thats the fallacy in all coC thinking.
We will never agree on much, so im not trying to change your mind.
See, there is no book in the bible on hermeneutics.
Also, who put the bible together? the Catholic church, thats who.

Kent,

Ah...basic grammar and following directions. Seem to be problems for a lot of today's people. I forgot, you don't follow the Bible in any manner - so it's no use arguing with you. There is no excuse for different interpretations unless you go away from the scriptures to make them - like Calvin did.

What's that old saying...argue with a fool once, shame on you. Argue with a fool twice, shame on me.

Kent,

You will take this wrong (as may others), but I truly wonder why someone who hates the c of C so much - spends so much time obessing on this website? Seriously, based on your past postings here and on another website, I think you might find better things to do with your time. Study biblical history? Read the Bible? Work on anger management and your cursing problem?

I am concerned for you and will continue to keep you in my prayers. Yes, I know how much you hate to hear me state that, but one day I hope you will be thankful.

i just like needling you. I'm secretly in love with you ppb:)

see you in the funny papers