Let me give a real example as to what I am talking about.
I know 2 churches that believe 99.9% of the same thing. The only exception being is that one church believes in watching no TV and the other believes in keeping their eyes from the seeing of evil. Because of this difference they refuse to come together, call each other false churches and condemn each other to hell.
Crazy.
You would think that these leaders(men of God) would come together because the bible says "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity".
Peter and Paul said look. We both preach the same thing. Let's come together, no competing and fellowship in love for the truth.
But because of money, control and the belief that they will be rewarded in heaven for the number of people they "saved", they will not fellowship with each other.
I have other examples I can use. But it is not over doctrine why we are apart.
If you believe God meant for it to be this way, I feel for you.
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Philippians 2:12 - ...Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling
Ephesians 4:5 - One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism
1 Corinthians 1:10 - Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith ...
I feel there are too many cultural and doctrinal differences for complete unity. The AWCF has been trying to unite the B-O-C for quite awhile now. Look them up, it's a start.
If we all decided to embrace our diversity and to walk in the Spirit (as He leads individuals and congregations) in brotherly love, having compassion towards one another... would that not be "being of one mind"??? Admonishing that we embrace this, would it not be speaking the same thing?
Most view this as everyone walking around believing, saying, and thinking the exact same thing. In the end... everyone ends up screaming for their own conviction, opinion, or understanding to define said unity.
But being in one mind and speaking the same thing as it relates to the Spirit's leading, as He leads in various ways, in the lives of various people, and within various congregations... teaching that we should all love one another as Christ has loved us... that is being absolutely unified in Spirit. That is speaking the same thing as we embrace what the Spirit is doing among us in every way imaginable and in any and every context.
One form of unity requires a doctrinal test. The other requires a unified spirit and brotherly love, patience, and compassion in spite of various doctrinal differences.
This reminds me of something that I post quite a bit. I post it because it never ceases to confound me or be applicable. It's truth, as I have experienced it, is irrefutable. This is a conversation with God that I had in prayer a while back. What moved me is that I truly felt like God was speaking to me directly. I'll share it again here because it addresses why the church is so divided and what I believe God told me regarding the answer to this division. For whatever it is wroth... here it is:
It's been said that, "Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right." Well, I tried this. And what happened has left me astounded. I was speaking to the LORD in prayer recently I began to ask Him, "Why are we so divided?", and, "What must I do to be holy?" And this is the message that I felt burning in my heart so hot that I had to simply type it out as the power overwhelmed me… (I paraphrase in that it all came as a block of emotions to my spirit... not necessarily words). So, here it is... my little talk with the LORD....
ME:
"Why are we so divided?"
"What must I do to be holy?"
GOD:
My child, I will tell you why you are all so divided. It is your religions. They are not of me. Each of you has a list. A list of do’s and don’ts. And each of you think that I authored your respective lists. Baptists have their list, Catholics have their lists, Pentecostals have their lists, Methodists have their lists, Lutherans have their lists, Charismatics have their lists, Messianics have their lists, Episcopals have their lists… each list is different. I’m not a God of confusion. Each list is a doctrine of man. Some say you must keep the Ten Commandments that I delivered to Moses to give to my people. Some of you expand upon these and add feast days, Sabbaths, dietary regulations, linguistic nuances of eccentricity wherein you think you are shown to be wise, yet you are looking foolish in your conceits. You want to be so much like my people… but not like me. You fail to realize… I’m the eternal, the constant, the source; the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the ending, the all in all, the great I AM that I AM… I’m not Catholic, Protestant, or Evangelical… neither am I Jewish. I’m GOD. Still some of you have codified my teachings into a strict body of church law in which you seek to please me by changing your “behavior”… but not your “being”. Teachings of mine were for spiritual development, they were not intended to be turned into dry do’s and don’ts to maintain a religious status quo. Then some of you codified the methods with which I addressed issues in Israel or the first generation of churches... making them “commandments” instead of seeing the spirit behind the reasoning. A reasoning that endures in any context, be it time or culture. Then you added historical traditions established by various religious leaders and founders. You codified congregation structures, financial models, added liturgies, added dietary regulations, added special days of worship, added dress codes, even added prohibitions on both men and women I never required. Each of you has these LISTS! Stop trying to please me by living these man-made lists! They divide you because you measure yourselves against one another based on your respective man-made LISTS. Ask the Pharisee to list exactly what must be done to please me! Let him present his list! And suddenly you’ll see another Pharisee argue against something on the first Pharisee’s list, or seek to add something from their list to it!!! Eventually they are all squabbling over which commandments on which list has to be obeyed and which do not! Why? It is because the spirit of legalism leaves you awash in the sea of subjective personal interpretation wherein one man’s interpretation is just as good as another’s. Yet you cling to them because you think they make you “holy”. These lists don’t make you holy. What makes you Holy is… ME.
You see… I am the Vine, and you are the branches. You are called to be living extensions of me… not living extensions of the ancient nation of Israel, your given church, or your given denomination. You are called to be conformed into the image and likeness of Christ… not the image and likeness of your respective church, movement, or denomination. When you live by their LISTS… you are becoming like them… NOT like me.
And so you ask… How do I become like you? I, the LORD, shall answer you this day. Let him who has an ear, let him hear!!!...
The answer is in the very nature of my being my beloved. You see… I AM… love. When you are loving, gracious, forgiving, kind, compassionate, patient, long suffering, temperate, and giving… you are being like Me. Do you wish to fulfill “the law”??? DON’T live by it. Find its core. Find its essence. Find my reason for delivering said laws in their given contexts. You’ll discover that it is because I was teaching many different things… but the core was and always has been… MY love. Love me my child. Love me with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And demonstrate your love for me by loving others as yourself. If you do this you will have fulfilled the essence of MY law. If there is any other commandment ever brought to your attention, know this… it is fulfilled in this single statement, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” In this you do no wrong… and in loving… you become like me… the one who is love itself.
So be not swayed by their LISTS. Do not be deceived by their vain and eccentric verbiage. Do not emulate a nation, a denomination, or a church. Instead… emulate Me and you will find rest for your souls. Love Me with all your being… and show me that you love Me by loving others as yourself. The only commandment I give you is this… LOVE. For love will not murder, steal, covet, slander, commit adultery, rage, revenge, or blaspheme. Love will set every day aside as holy… because love seeks to give absolute devotion every single day without end. I am not impressed with your LISTS. First, your lists all differ. And second, you don’t even keep your own lists perfectly! This makes you hypocrites of the worst kind. Why do you do this to yourselves??? Do you really think I’m IMPRESSED by anything you do? Am I impressed by any cherry picked LIST of commandments you’ve chosen to embrace… at the expense of others that you chose not to? Do you really think I’m going to open the books and judge you by each of your respective lists???! Will I judge according to dress code, hairstyles, feast days, and your labored mispronunciations of an ancient language??? Will I praise you for acting Jewish… even though if the truth were to be told… you don’t have a single drop of Hebrew blood in your body??? No. When you stand before Me… I will only seek to know two things: Did you love me with all your being? Did you seek to show your love for me by loving others as yourself? And you’ll then begin to see how your LISTS hindered you from loving your neighbors. You will see how your lusts, adulteries, thievery, slander, etc. are not rooted in failing to obey a rule on a LIST… but in your failure to LOVE. For love does no harm to the object of its affection.
So I leave you with this… become like Me. Be conformed into the very image and likeness of Jesus Christ, my beloved Son. And in this you will find true holiness. In this you will find the law of liberty… the law of LOVE. You will have discovered… ME.
As I created the last post I posted above... I felt the Spirit of the LORD speak something into my spirit. This must be a topic dear to His heart. I normally don't feel this in all the threads I post on. Here is another "God talking" moment... I'll share it here, because I believe that if it is God... I'd be wrong for not sharing it. Here it is:
GOD:
You fail to understand that while my Word, that which you call the Bible, is infallible... your labored interpretations of it are not. Allow this truth to resonate within you and be humbled before Me.
Of course, I'll have to pray about it and seek confirmation of this truth. I've realized that when God speaks... we can never contest it's truth.
As I created the last post I posted above... I felt the Spirit of the LORD speak something into my spirit. This must be a topic dear to His heart. I normally don't feel this in all the threads I post on. Here is another "God talking" moment... I'll share it here, because I believe that if it is God... . . .
If it is?! You just said God spoke to you! Make up your mind!
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
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