Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This is an urgent plea for us to urgently look inward very quickly.
I believe most of us are all GUILTY in some form or another. Take a moment to not look at this as criticism, but rather a cry for unity in Christ!
PLEASE take the time to read this.
So, what am I on about?
There has been a shocking increase in the amount of written/verbal attacks between Christians. Some of these are sarcastic comments, some are blatant attacks.
It is as if some Christians sit there and wait for the smallest thing that they can dispute and then jump onto it. Perhaps they are trying to show just how much they know? Instead of waiting for something where they can add value and contribute positively. The Bible says that we were each given an interpretation – this gift of interpretation is not there so we can run each other into the ground. It is there for our MUTUAL edification (1 Cor 14:26)!
“Jhn13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”.
Looking at the attacks on each other in status updates, comments and messages; let me assure you that many are disqualifying themselves based on the criteria above.
Many have taken a stance of associating with their “denomination” and good riddance to the rest. My friends, this is not Biblical.
“Mat 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Loving those in your denomination/inner-circle is the easy part – “even tax collectors do the same”. MANY MANY Christians are openly attacking each other and failing to love each other as Jesus COMMANDED. It was not a suggestion – it was a command.
There is such a mighty revival blowing through the nations, but it is offset by Christians attacking each other on non-consequential matters! The enemy has taken the chance to use our weaknesses against us and is turning the revival into internal fighting! What weapons are he using? Pride and Self-righteousness!
You may immediately shake your head and say “not me”, but hold on for a second. Give this some thought. I have seen so many arguments just carry on and on and on. Neither party willing to back off. Each one being more right than the other. I myself am guilty of this. How on earth could someone know something that we/you/I do not??? PRIDE! SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS!
The craziest thing is the kind of stuff they argue about. You’d expect it to be something critical like the salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Unfortunately not. I myself got accused the other day because I use the word Trinity instead of Triune. What on earth is this madness? Apart from the fact that I do not know what the difference is between Triune and Trinity my understanding of God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son will not change no matter what people choose to call it. Why are we fussing about such a ridiculous thing? I would not be surprised to see a whole new denomination get created because of this one single word!
The same goes for forms of worship. I myself am a arm-raising, hjand-clapping, tongue speaking worshipper. BUT – I have been to older churches with a more conservative approach. When I walked in there I could SEE the love these people had for Jesus. They did not need to clap their hands.
I find it amazing that in sport I can like Motor Racing, while others prefer Rugby, Football, etc. I am never attacked for preferring a different sport. Yet, we can attack people because they do not clap their hands? God created us different. The definition of the word Worship is different in my heart than in the heart of others. The only thing that matters is our love and obedience for Jesus! We MUST stop this fighting about stuff that is non-consequential.
I can just imagine the more conservative guys right now saying that the writer here is a tongue speaking person and that they do not believe in tongues. Well, I believe it is a great gift from God, but let me ask you this. If I truly believe in Jesus and speak in tongues, will I be condemned? If I truly believe in Jesus and I do not speak in tongues, will I be condemned? I believe the answer to both is an emphatic NO! Yet, we will argue about this and create whole new denomination. We will not let our churches get together to worship God, because heaven forbid that some clap hands and some don’t!
Why are we fighting with each other about absolute rubbish while the enemy is doing such a good job already – he does not need our help! While we fight against each other, we scare people away from Jesus and the enemy gains ground!!!
I was also accused after I called myself a sinner. Well, I accept that – I am very much a zero-tolerance kind of person. I was however surprised at the attack because I called myself a sinner. I try very hard, but cannot say I live a sin-free life – not by God’s standard. I usually come short in my mind long before I actually DO anything.
That makes me a sinner saved by grace. Am I one of the saints, yes, I believe so, but I am still a sinner saved by grace. I will only be the finished article when I get to meet my God.
“Phi 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ
Not any one of us is perfect – so stop acting like it!
Sadly I can think of way too many examples where Christians argue with each other about things that do not really have an eternal impact. Of course - if someone goes directly against the Word of God and it will lead to people being misled into the fires of hell - we must confront this! But do we really need to confront every little difference and condemn each other immediately as the "lost"?
I come from a life of sin and now I will not tolerate it in my presence any longer. Was it not for Jesus I would have been in deep deep trouble. So, I tend to preach repentance quite a lot through love, while others preach grace through love. Two very different approaches, but neither is wrong! We are different people! I like motorsport and you may like Opera! Neither is wrong! If we were all the same, then we would never be able to spread the gospel to the multitudes out there.
Allow me to use music as an example. Before I accepted Jesus, I used to love hard and heavy rock music. When I became a Christian I found it very difficult to adjust to the low tempo Christian stuff. Yes, even bands like Kutless and Casting Crowns were way too slow for me. I found hard Christian rock music which by many will surely be condemned because it is different. That music helped me through my journey at that stage! I now prefer much more quiet stuff for deep worship, but the fact is that every gift and every interpretation has a place. Just because it is different does not make it wrong. No-one would have been able to teach me to get into God’s presence with “old fashioned” Christian music at that time. Their musical gift targeted an audience of new believers like me and to this day I thank the Lord for them even though I hardly listen to it now.
I would like to close with this.
“Acts 2:1 [ Coming of the Holy Spirit ] When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
The Holy Spirit did not come while they were squabbling- but while they were in ONE ACCORD!
Acts 2:46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,”
“Acts 4:24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,”
There is power in unity. The book of Acts has often been referred to as the blue print of the church. These guys were of one accord – they stood in agreement and created a foundation for us to build on. We are not to build shacks on the foundation that was paid with such a heavy price!
Let us stop these petty attacks.
Let us be aware that the enemy will use our own thoughts against us.
Let us be aware that or enemy will use the temptation of pride and self-righteousness.
Let us stop splintering the church and stand united for Jesus.
The sooner we do so, the sooner He will come! He awaits His perfect bride.
I want to request that you please share this note with as many people as you can. You can email it, print it or publish it on your FB page by clicking the “share” button on this page. Let us get the word out there to stand united. Let us stop the bickering.
Let us not fight each other any longer, but let us fight the enemy for the salvation of the lost!
See you in the frontlines.
God bless
David
Ps. My apologies if this is a bit harsh. It is a burning fire within my heart that has caused me much distress over the past few weeks. I may have used about 20 or 30 too any exclamation marks