Thirty years ago I was working with a
couple of pastors who had a simple, yet radical thought. They conclude that
there is only one church. They decided that it was time to put aside this
identification with denominations and place our allegiance with Christ first. This
may seem obvious to some but it was not being played out in the church. They
were divided, jealous of one another, competed against one another and focused
on how great their denominational beliefs were.
Thirty years later I am saddened to
note that nothing has changed. Are we still infants?
1 Corinthians 3:1-5 states “Brothers,
I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere
infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are
still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and
quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting
like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another,
"I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? 5 What, after all,
is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants,
through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task”. Today Paul and Apolos represent the
denominational beliefs or the individuals that we follow.
So why is it so important to grow up?
One thing to note is a child is easily deceived by those which have the
appearance of being more mature. Today there is so much error in the church. For
example:
·
Love without correction – This is really hate
because the person giving the love does not care enough to correct so that you
can become the righteous person you need to be.
·
Grace without the law – It is impossible to have
grace without something to be forgiven yet those things considered wrong are
becoming less and less.
·
God being our servant – We are called to be God’s
obedient servants, not the other way around.
·
Leadership without humility – The VIPs in our
church are an embarrassment to me. We all need to walk in humility, not seeking
titles and position, but humbly following Christ and serving one another.
When we Follow Christ and when we grow up we will not be deceived.
A mature person in Christ does not consult a mere man about what is right and
what is wrong. He seeks God first and studies God’s word. When a person sees
error the person does not follow it, but walks in the opposite direction.
We have a chose. Do we continue being infants and blindly
follow those in leadership or do we follow Christ, study God’s word and become
mature.
When we discover that Christ is greater and that
His way is better, then we will be able to shine a light into the darkness and
transform our country. It is only through Christ that the church will be lifted
up. If we do not grow up we will be robbed of our birth right by both our
leadership and by the world. Greatness is there for young and old. We can
transform our communities once we discover that God has invested a great deal
in us and can do a great thing through us.
