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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | searching for the truth | 1 Cor 11:3 | kalos | 125908 | ||
Tim: Not everyone would agree that the world is a better place because of the Reformation. Some seem to think that it would be better if we all came under submission to one human authority and all believed the same thing, even if what we believed was incorrect. Some appear to believe in unity at any cost -- unity in spite of the truth. I believe in unity around (based on) the truth -- not in spite of it. Grace to you, kalos |
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2 | searching for the truth | 1 Cor 11:3 | Hank | 125920 | ||
Truly, kalos, as you say, unity at any cost -- unity gained but truth not maintained -- is not a desideratum. But neither is division over trifles a desideratum. When I was in college in Nashville, there was a congregation of believers of a certain communion who met in a small satellite town of metropolitan Nashville. A disagreement made itself evident and eventually split the church. Was it something major, like the deity of Christ or the authority of Scripture? No, it was nothing even close to such core issues of the Christian faith. It had to do with the vessel in which the grape juice/wine was served at communion. Some held that 'this cup' was singular and hence it was all wrong to serve communion in the little individual cups. So the uni-cuppers split with the multi-cuppers. ........ Another case in point. One time I had occasion to speak with an elderly woman who was a member of a certain denomination. As there are several congregations of this denomination in town, I asked her which one she attended. She told me and I remarked that I knew the pastor of one of the other congregations of the same stripe. "Oh, I wouldn't dare go to that church!" she exclaimed. I asked her why not and she responded, "Well, they're too liberal for me." ..... "How's that?" I asked. ..... "Why, they've got a complete kitchen and dining area in the basement of the church. They actually have big dinners right there in the basement of the church house. That's terrible. Even though they claim to be the (she named the denomination) Church, I won't have anything to do with them, and I'm not the only one who feels this way, I guarantee you." ....... So here we have two divisions within the same denominational groups, one over the "communion cup" issue, and the other over the "dining room" issue. I've never been able to see either issue as really crucial or one that compromised biblical truth in any way. ...... These two examples drawn from my own personal observations appear almost comical reasons to divide the Lord's body, yet they are no more absurd than some of the other causes of division throughout the long history of the church. Whether to use musical instruments in worship or go a cappella has brought division. Similarly, the parsing of "world" and "whoever" in John 3:16 has given rise to two major (and opposing) systems of soteriology. ...... Oftentimes what begins as a mere trifling difference in points of view escalates into a significant and virtually irreparable breach. ..... A worthy goal for the individual Christian and the corporate church: Be diligent to preserve both the unity and the truth in peace and love. --Hank | ||||||