Our Common Belief
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The old
saying, "Birds of a feather flock together" really is true. It seems
that God has put it into each animal species to find others like themselves
and stick with them.
I know on our little farm we see this sort of thing all the time, from our
chickens to our cattle, each animal keeps after it's own kind. Other kinds
of birds fly in and out of our chicken area all the time, but they don't stay
and mingle with the chickens- it just wouldn't be right!
This sort of behavior is part of the instinct each animal has and this
instinct helps these animals survive the perils of the wild. Without this
built-in discrimination many of these animals would walk right into their own
death and destruction.
At first glance it would seem that even man has this instinct when we see how
we tend to keep to groups that are just like ourselves, but this is a
misconception.
Some people think that it's OK to prevent other people from joining clubs,
moving into "their" neighborhood, etc., and particularly so when those other
people are "different". That's not instinct, just evil behavior.
Where God has put these instincts directly into each animals brains through
their DNA makeup, He has not done so with man. He did not give man an
instinct like the animals because we have been given a rational mind,
something which the animals do not have.
With our minds we have been given the blessing of deciding things for
ourselves. We can evaluate a situation and make a decision based upon that
evaluation. That decision then takes the place of any instinct we would need
and, if a good decision was made, it then would provide us with the results
we want.
The question then arises, if we aren't led by instinct but rather by
conscious decision, why do we sometimes act as though there is nothing we can
do about how we feel or how we view other groups of people, people who are no
different than we are, except for the ideas in their minds or the color of
their skin?
The answer is, in a nutshell, we act that way because we have made a
conscious decision to do so. We often look for the things that are different
between us and those that we don't understand, something that we can find
fault with and exploit.
Oftentimes our fault finding isn't even malicious in nature, but then evolves
into something less than kind. For children it can be something as simple as
a playmate arriving at school for the first time in glasses. Because the
glasses are different and misunderstood by the other children, great
attention is drawn upon this child and often the situation goes into a
hurtful teasing.
We can see this same kind of fault finding in adults, but without the
innocence of childhood. We can find fault with just about every other human
being around, if we have such a desire, just as others can find fault with us.
There is literally no end to the amount of fault finding that we can get
ourselves involved in, especially if we have no moral compass to guide us.
That's how people can justify strapping on a bomb and blowing themselves and
innocent women & children up, and feel no guilt or remorse about what they
are going to do.
We have all been a target of this fault finding in some form or another, and
for some it may have even been to the point of being hated for their race or
nationality. I would dare say that no person enjoys that feeling of hate and
hostility, yet we often perpetrate it right back onto someone else, as the
occasion arises.
As Christians, are we immune to these thoughts and actions? Is it beyond the
ability for a Christian man or woman to find fault with others over their
color, their nationality, their faith? Can a God fearing Christian
discriminate against another Christian just because he or she is a member of
a different denomination, or observes days different from you or I?
The answer is often a painful yes, they (we) can. In fact, we often
discriminate against such simple things as: Belief in a literal heaven and
hell; The role of the Holy Spirit in an individuals life; Whether you
believe that there was life on this planet prior to about 6,000 years ago;
Which Bible you use; Whether you eat meat or just vegetables.
I'm sure there are others that you can think up on your own. Even Christians
are not immune to this game of discrimination, and it is a deadly game.
I say deadly because the end result can produce the spiritual death of both
the person who is the target of the discrimination, as well as the person who
is doing the discriminating.
This is a lose, lose situation and that's all it can ever be. When we are so
busy with finding fault with others, instead of helping them to grow in their
relationship with Jesus Christ, we are neglecting our own spiritual growth,
as well as causing a stumbling block for those that we have targeted.
How can God work with us when we are busy tearing down His own children? God
loves each of us, faults and all, and He wants each of us to love His other
children just as He does, unconditionally.
So, how can we get out of the habit of always finding fault and practicing
discrimination? I believe one of the ways we can do this is by focusing our
thoughts on the things we all have in common, and not our differences.
This would be practicing what God practiced on us when He sent His Son down
here to become our Savior. If God was looking at only our differences it
would not have gone the way it did. God would have said that we were totally
unworthy of His gift and called Jesus back to heaven. But He didn't.
God looked at those things that we had in common with Him, and He built upon
those things. What could we possibly have in common with God, you ask?
First of all, we were made in God's image.
Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, "Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness,
let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the
livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the
ground."
Made in God's image. We sometimes just pass that one by because of the
deepness that phrase brings with it. We weren't made in a physical image of
God, because God is spirit and not flesh. We are in the spiritual image of
God. Our likeness to God is made perfect as we grow in the likeness of Jesus
Christ.
Romans 8:29-30 "For those God forenew he also predestined to be conformed to
the likeness of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified;
those he justified, he also glorified."
We have been made in the image of God and have been justified by him and
glorified through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. No other creature of God
can make this claim, yet we all too often ignore this miracle.
As Christians, as human beings, we have this awesome common connection of our
heavenly likeness. We need to contemplate on this often because it's all too
easy to forget and then we go right back into our fleshy mode of
condemnation.
God had a purpose for this connection and that purpose was, and is, for us to
grow together as children of God and to receive the glory that He freely
gives. We must work together and help each other in our Christian walk.
What are some other positive things that we all can have with other
Christians? Well, for one thing, we all have a desire to learn more about
God and what his written word has to say to all of us.
Scriptures appear to be one of the foundations we hold dear, even though we
often find disparity among ourselves as to how we understand certain parts of
it. But sating that Scripture is a foundation is not quite accurate because
our true foundation must be Jesus Christ, and his crucifixion and
resurrection.
If we make Scripture our foundation of belief, we might find ourselves on
shaky ground, especially if we ever discover error in some of our beliefs, as
has happened in the past. For some of our brothers and sisters in the Lord
that was too much to bear, and they left the flock confused and hurt.
Our private interpretation of Scripture can lead us into some wrong
conclusions, such as observing Pentecost on Monday, instead of Sunday. But
our belief in the life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ will never lead
us to a wrong conclusion.
So, even though we might disagree with other Christians over certain
understandings of Scripture, we can all agree that Jesus is our Savior and
that he is alive today and leading His people.
Some Christians prefer not to observe the birth of Jesus as an annual
occasion, for various reasons, including the fact that we are not commanded
to observe it. We can find fault with that line of reasoning, or we can look
for common ground and enjoy our common belief and understanding of the
immaculent conception.
We can praise God that he chose such an awesome way to come into this world
as a human being and as God at the same time. Why look for disagreement when
we can rejoice together over this miracle? We would all agree that the event
happened, so why not make this a point of connection instead of a point of
contention?
The same could be said about Easter Sunday observance. We can get all worked
up over insignificant points, and miss the main point, which is Jesus Christ
is a risen Savior!
Many Christians have taken the stand that there is a particular day that is
to be observed, whether that day be Sunday or Saturday. In the past, our
denomination, the WCG, always held the position of Saturday being the only
day set aside for worship, in a normal weekly setting. We understood the old
testament writings to teach that we must keep the Sabbath as set forth for Israel.
As we came into our understanding of the new covenant, we no longer held that
dogmatic view, but rather we now allow each congregation to choose which day
best suits their needs. For some it may continue to be Saturday, while for
others they see that Sunday is better, for a number of reasons.
We believe that under the new covenant of Jesus Christ, He is our Sabbath
rest, and any day that we choose to honor Him is acceptable to Him. Instead
of our focusing on the exact day that we do or do not set aside for worship,
we need to look for our common ground.
In this case it would be that we would all agree that is is of utmost
importance that we set aside time each week to give honor and praise to our
God. For without the setting aside of special worship time each week, every
one of us would eventually begin to fall away due to a lack of commitment.
In the act of attending a worship service, no matter when it is held, we are
brought together for a special communion with God. This is something that is
important to God and the writer of Hebrews made sure we remembered it.
Hebrews 10:25 "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit
of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the
Day approaching."
The writer here is also reminding us that we are meeting together for a
purpose beyond just communing with God, as important as that is. He is
telling the reader that we are to meet together as often as possible so that
we can encourage each other.
This is another thing that all Christians have in common, and this one is
very important. We all need encouragement. It's what we all need, but it's
all too often just the opposite of what we seem to get, isn't it?
We are easily discouraged by other Christians when we are told that our faith
isn't strong enough or that our understanding is wrong and will lead us into
a Laodacian spirit, or that we are spiritually immature, babes in Christ.
Instead of pointing out the faults of the other person and their beliefs, we
need to encourage them in the common things that we hold with them, even if
it seems like small points to you.
Every common point can help us to see other common points, which could lead
us to see that we have more in common than we have in difference to each
other.
I Peter 1:17- 2:12 Read this as a closing comment.
Let's continue in encouraging one another and looking for those areas where
we have common ground. As Peter said, we need to rid ourselves of all malice
and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind.
We need to put on Christ in everything we do and especially so when it comes
to our brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what their denomination,
race or sex.
We wouldn't want anything less from Christ, would we?