I like to think about heaven sometimes. Through my life I have developed the habit of thinking up questions that I will ask God when I get to heaven. "It was a whale right, why does everyone make such a big deal out of this?" A few years ago I wondered what would happen up there when all of us could, once and for all, find out how God really wanted the church to operate. Which doctrines were right and which were wrong? Then I realized something, in heaven, no one will care. We will be so caught up in the presence of God that we won't be able to do anything but to worship. All of the petty reasons that church's don't worship together or work together on earth will be gone when we worship together in front of our Father.
What if we were able to do that now? In heaven there won't be a Lutheran section, and a Presbyterian section, and a non-denominational fellowship section: we will finally become THE church. I understand that having doctrines and theological stances are necessary for the church to operate, and that your beliefs should help you decide what church to attend. I think some church doctrines are over the top and some are extremely unimportant, but others are necessary. However, I also believe strongly in what God tried to tell The church in Romans 14 where it says: "Accept him... without passing judgement on disputable matters." Later it adds: "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification." What if we stopped fighting each other over whether or not our wives need to wear hats in church. What if when a need was recognized in our town all of the church's combined to help meet it. What if instead of struggling to solve problems on our own, we worked together on what God thinks is important.
p.s. it isn't hats
A good description of Christian ecumenism without stumbling into heretical antidogmatic pluralism. Whoa, that was alot of big words... but I meant it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Blog.
I'm your first commenter! Yay, go me! Remember this when your blog is famous and read by thousands of people everyday. I was the first to recognize and acknowledge it's awesomeness. That has to be worth a free giveaway or something (all big and famous blogs have free giveaways).
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I love all that you have written so far. Your insights are wonderful, and I am SO glad and blessed that you are mentoring and teaching our kids!!
Blessings...and keep writing!
Lisa Howard
Human nature side tracks the church from the things with the most spiritual importance to be sure! It is hard for the good news to move forward quickly when it is tripping over all of the church's red tap!
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