Scripture speaks of Christians being one body, striving to live in peace as we are called to do. I thought about those words and came to the realization that God literally means ALL Christians. Fundamentalists, Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Pentecostals and other perhaps fringe denominations. That's a tall order for all believers. I don't know about you, but I can easily think of doctrines of some denominations that are on shaky ground. I reject teaching based on a single verse taken out of context. That approach alone has led to fracturing the body of Christ and led to many separate denominations. There is a saying in Alcoholics Anonymous: All it takes is a resentment and a copy of the Big Book to start a new group. I wonder how many churches have begun with a resentment and a bible.
There are a sizable number of Christians who will not budge from their dogma. They have closed their minds. I think of Jehovah's Witnesses who cannot bear to have their theology questioned. I remember one woman with children in tow asking me if I was a believer. I explained I believed Jesus was the Messiah and ask her to read my bible for a different rendering of an argument she was making about having to earn your way to eternal life. I spoke firmly, using scripture to refute her argument. She kept quoting from their authorized bible only. I pressed on gently hoping to win her over. But she started ushering her children away from my dangerous words of freedom. I prayed for her for a long time.
But there are Christians I don't see eye to eye with who are more difficult to converse with. They have closed their minds to any other possible interpretations of scripture. I have wound my way through many different denominations before finding myself in a place of peace and thoughtfulness. I stumbled my way through a fundamentalist church where EVERY other denomination was deceived. A Southern Baptist where the King James Version of the bible was the only inerrant scripture choice. A Pentecostal church where legalism reigned. I had to be saved weekly because I had managed to sin during the week. They catered to condemnation and fear. They also told me to pray harder, have more faith, repent more, and receive the Holy Spirit more in order to be healed of my bipolar disorder and suicidal depression. You see, that implied it was basically my fault if I didn't get "healed."
After that church, I decided I'd had enough of other Christians. Went months sleeping on Sunday mornings. I talked to God, but I had been burned pretty bad. More time passed and my husband and I realized we wanted our son raised in the church, but not just any church. We spent months visiting churches that ran the gamut. Some we knew right away we'd never go back. One we went to several times thinking there was potential. But the day the pastor said something along the lines of I'm not doing what is known as a benediction because it's so unnecessary. I began crying because I felt like I was being sent away empty-handed. We never went back. I need God's blessing. A benediction is no small thing.
Again we stepped back from church shopping. Then a postcard arrived that had the photo of a white pastor and a Black praise director, arms over each other's shoulders inviting us to come to the start of a new contemporary service at a nearby Presbyterian church. I'd never been to one. All I knew of Presbyterians were they were "the frozen chosen." I was hesitant, but a diverse congregation sounded inviting. We went and felt so welcome, the warmth, the joy, and the presence of the Holy Spirit were palpable. We joined that church within four weeks and two weeks later I was playing guitar for the praise team.
It's been twenty years and I've never been made to feel shame, fear, condemnation, or been told I don't measure up in God's eyes. I found a home that lets me think, that surrounds me with love and assurances that my mental illness is not a sin and I don't have to live as though I'm disappointing God by not being healed of it. My church allows thoughts and decisions informed by a cleansed and living conscience. The bible is inspired and church decisions are not made by a single person, but by a committee of elders chosen by the people with the laying on of hands. First-century Christianity at work, living out in the services and in the lives of those who attend. Sanity. Simple spiritual sanity.
I want peace between all Christians, regardless of denominational flavor. We can surely find common ground if we seek it. But all too often hearts harden because we don't read the same bible version, or interpret some scripture a little differently. Or we welcome people other churches would condemn. Or even worse, our politics differ. I find it heartbreaking that some churches tell who and what to vote for in the name of God. Anyone who votes otherwise isn't a real Christian.
The show we put on in the world must grieve the Lord. Yet I still believe there are people in every denomination who are willing to say," Putting it that way, I change my mind and agree with you." Have an open heart and mind and wishing above all to be one, to love, and to be at peace. May we all listen to each other not with the express purpose of trying to convert the other, but to find common ground we can agree on and be at peace with the whole body.
