Avoiding the Truth

If you are anything like me, you tire of unbelievers, especially those in the religious and philosophical arenas, who always want to avoid the differences between belief systems in order to focus on what they deem to be the similarities. It is as if the differences are man made and should be discarded, but the similarities are of God and should emphasized. But, what they fail to realize is that the differences are where truth is determined, in many cases. It is even more disheartening when you see this same ideology arise within the Body of Christ. Case in point is the following statement taken from the website of a new fellowship that started up in my area:

"...Fellowship has been formed as a body of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to know Jesus and be conformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational church, nor are we opposed to denominations as such, only their over-emphasis of the doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the Body of Christ. We believe that the only true basis of Christian fellowship is God’s (agape) love which is greater than any differences we possess and without which we have no right to claim ourselves as Christians."

We have "no right to claim ourselves as Christians" if we are deemed by others to over-emphasize doctrinal differences? This sounds just like the lost who think all religions lead to God, therefore, any differences in the religions should be ignored. I have said this before, but God does have an opinion on just about every subject. I don't belong to a denominational church either, but we all know that non-denominational churches, in many instances, are a denomination themselves. That said, aren't Christians supposed to reason from the Scriptures and be willing to be led by the Holy Spirit into all truth? That means discussing those things that "divide" us because by doing so, we can find out what the truth really is. And it is in finding the truth that harmony is, ultimately, found.

"When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said." Acts 17:1-3

What was Paul doing going into a synagogue? Is wasn't because he was putting aside the differences he had with his Jewish brethren for the sake of fellowship. It was so he could engage in intelligent and passionate debate, from the Scriptures, with those who disagreed with him, so as to win them over for Christ. He did so out of love for the Jews. We all know that there are vast doctrinal differences between Judaism and Christianity, chief among those is Jesus Christ. Jews, at best, esteem Christ as a great teacher. Christians know Him as God and Savior. That is a huge difference. And one that needs to be discussed. While the differences between so-called Christians may not be as major as those we have with unbelievers, they can be just as important to our understanding of who we are in Christ. Normally, what we have added to the Gospel is what we emphasize. That, in many cases, is why you have so many Christian denominations, all of which claim to be holding onto truth. Water baptism, election, speaking in tongues, law and grace and many other subjects are debated upon at length. Emphasis on one or more of these doctrines does not mean that you are not a Christian, but it definitely can hinder unity between the saints. These differences are normally the tip of the iceberg when it comes to differences in doctrine. They have to be hashed out if we are to mature in our faith and come into agreement with one another.

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:2-6

Paul wasn't in chains because people agreed with him. He was in chains because of the differences in what he preached about Christ as opposed to those who didn't agree with him. Paul asked for prayer that he proclaim the Gospel clearly because he knew that their is one, singular, message to be preached. The sheer fact that he asked for clarity of his Gospel presentation is because there are errors and bad teaching out there to guard against. However, in the midst of our defense of the Gospel, we should do so in love, so as not to intentionally insight anger and malevolence against us. The offense of the Gospel is usually enough to polarize us from others. There is no need to preach it with an attitude. Be advised that Paul says that we should know how to answer everyone. Not everyone is going to agree with us. Therefore, it means that we should not be surprised when people disagree with us. Paul is advising us how best to engage with others, especially those who have doctrinal differences with us. He is not telling us to disregard or avoid those differences. If you care about someone, you may not emphasize the differences they have with you, if you believe they are in error. But, it is not an act of love to avoid those differences.