The views and opinions expressed here are my own and should not be construed as representing the corporate views of the church where I am a Pastor. (especially when I'm wrong or when I'm being an idiot).
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Ecclesiastical Separation
Be sure to join the discussion over at clayreed.net. I am taking the time to write my own post about it because I believe we would be well served to join in the conversation.There is a biblically untenable position that has pervaded Christian ranks... it is the position that we cannot ever have fellowship or cooperation with those who are preferentially or methodologically different than us. The problem I have with this philosophy is that it is not found in the Bible and we have to play theological twister to arrive at that point.This philosophy crept into the disciples of Jesus, and if it can creep into Jesus' inner circle it can infect us if we are not careful. Mark 9:38 - And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. Jesus addresses it by simply saying "if they aren't against us they are for us"!I believe Jesus spoke to this in John 10:16a - And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:. When Paul deals with the church in 1 Corinthians, one of their carnal problems was their divisiveness. They were all huddled up in their little camps and their little cliques with certain spiritual leaders claimed as their sect leaders. Paul uses some interesting phraseology in his opening address... "to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:. Paul is addressing a carnal church and saying it is time you were aware of the big picture, there are people all over that believe in Jesus, love Jesus and serve Jesus and are your brothers in Christ. Jesus is as much their God as He is ours. Even in the Old Testament God rebukes this error. (1 Kings 19:9-18) Basically Elijah in a fit of loneliness tells God that he had been the most righteous and passionate for Him and that he was the last surviving remnant still doing what God wanted. God then veritably scoffs at Elijah's "last man standing" mentality and says "I have 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal".I believe this attitude of separatism or if you will "remnant-ism" happens when we have a low view of God and a high view of ourselves. We look at God as only able to use one specific group that looks a certain way, talks a certain way and sings a certain way. We act like God hates diversity and isn't infinitely creative and powerful. Then we have too high a view of ourselves if we (erroneously) assume that we are the only right ones because we hold to specific traditions, have a certain methodology and wear the same pants. God is so much bigger than all that. Just as He created us a diverse planet with many colors, races and ethnicities - the gathering around the throne in Heaven is described in Revelation as tribes, tongues, creeds and nations. In other words the Bride of Christ, the Church, is made up of a lot of people much different than us. So while we are here we might as well get along and enjoy each other.Visit clayreed.net to get caught up on the discussion of Ecclesiastical Separation.Leave a Comment
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Gabriel Spence's Posterous
The views and opinions expressed here are my own and should not be construed as representing the corporate views of the church where I am a Pastor. (especially when I'm wrong or when I'm being an idiot).
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