We find not in the Gospel, that Christ hath anywhere provided for the uniformity of churches, but only for their unity. ... Roger Williams
I often get questions from people asking me what the differences are between the Methodists and Baptists, or the Presbyterians, or the Lutherans etc. I explain to them the nuance of difference between the Protestant faiths, the kinds of things that make a believer either comfortable or uncomfortable; these are the only real differences in the Protestant Christian Church. We may baptize infants; they may only baptize professing believers. We may baptize once, they may baptize any time a believer feels they have “come back’ to the Lord. We may observe communion each month, they may observe only a few times a year. Either way the differences do not make us that much different, and certainly make the Church much stronger.
The Apostle Paul said we should be the kind of person that is available to all persons, ready in and out of season to spread the Gospel (2 Tim 4:1-3). This may mean we might have to change a little in order to reach a certain individual or group. Paul changed the way he preached when He left the predominantly Jewish lands and went to Athens, if he didn’t his message would not have been heard. When the church in Corinth asked whether it was right to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols Paul told them that there was nothing wrong with the meat since the idols were nothing but brass and wood, but then he added in 1 Cor 8:9; Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. Paul knew that there were some out there that could not get over the lifelong habit of abstaining from sacrificed meat, so he said in verse 13; Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall. Paul knew that we were all different, but he also understood, like Mr. Williams says in our quote above, we are not expected to be uniform Christians, but we are expected to be Christians in unity. We are to be a people of one accord, connected to Jesus Christ. When we focus on the source of life we can’t help but be in unity. When we can finally take our eyes off of ourselves we can then see the glory of God together and together move in one purpose. Not uniformity, but unity says the Lord. Why is it so important that we have unity? When we come together in unity with Christ, He comes into our presence. Jesus told us in Mat 18:20; “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
I often get questions from people asking me what the differences are between the Methodists and Baptists, or the Presbyterians, or the Lutherans etc. I explain to them the nuance of difference between the Protestant faiths, the kinds of things that make a believer either comfortable or uncomfortable; these are the only real differences in the Protestant Christian Church. We may baptize infants; they may only baptize professing believers. We may baptize once, they may baptize any time a believer feels they have “come back’ to the Lord. We may observe communion each month, they may observe only a few times a year. Either way the differences do not make us that much different, and certainly make the Church much stronger.
The Apostle Paul said we should be the kind of person that is available to all persons, ready in and out of season to spread the Gospel (2 Tim 4:1-3). This may mean we might have to change a little in order to reach a certain individual or group. Paul changed the way he preached when He left the predominantly Jewish lands and went to Athens, if he didn’t his message would not have been heard. When the church in Corinth asked whether it was right to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols Paul told them that there was nothing wrong with the meat since the idols were nothing but brass and wood, but then he added in 1 Cor 8:9; Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. Paul knew that there were some out there that could not get over the lifelong habit of abstaining from sacrificed meat, so he said in verse 13; Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall. Paul knew that we were all different, but he also understood, like Mr. Williams says in our quote above, we are not expected to be uniform Christians, but we are expected to be Christians in unity. We are to be a people of one accord, connected to Jesus Christ. When we focus on the source of life we can’t help but be in unity. When we can finally take our eyes off of ourselves we can then see the glory of God together and together move in one purpose. Not uniformity, but unity says the Lord. Why is it so important that we have unity? When we come together in unity with Christ, He comes into our presence. Jesus told us in Mat 18:20; “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
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