Hold the Vegetables

In Romans 14:1 we read, "Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters." One of the things missed in this verse is who it is that has weak faith. Given the context of the passage, the one who has weak faith is a person who eats only vegetables. While most of us don't argue about whether or not we should eat only vegetables, we have had experience with those of weak faith trying to put us under their bondage. Yes, it is bondage to believe that you should only eat vegetables given all the foods at your disposal to eat. However, while it may not be vegetables, the subjects that take the place of vegetables are things like baptism, church attendance, tithing/giving, asking forgiveness, and prophecy. This list is not all-inclusive, but you get the point. Just like the person who believes that eating anything other than vegetables is a sin, so it is with those who believe you have to share their views about these other subjects. They end up causing division in the church because those who do not agree with them are treated worse than unbelievers. For example:

If you believe that a Christian is not subject to living under the law, those that do will say things like, "Talk about easy believism and I am not saying that is a good thing." This is nothing more than one Christian putting down another in a self-righteous quip. This leads to offending another Christian who believes differently. The response to this comment was, "You are very obsessed with the Law. God isn't ... Hell is full of Law keepers and commandment keepers, while no one who is born again will ever go to hell." Both individuals believe they are preaching the truth. The problem is that neither one of them is acting in love. They are sacrificing their fellow Christian on the altar of beliefs because winning the argument is more important than keeping the peace. No doubt they have forgotten the warning of Paul who said, "If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other (Galatians 5:15)." How would these individuals answer the question that Paul asked?

"Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand (Romans 14:4)." All we see here is Christians judging each other over disputable matters. It all starts with being obsessed with the law. When you believe another Christian is obligated to believe or behave as you do or else they are worthy of condemnation then you are the one worthy of judgment. Scripture is clear that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)." But, we condemn each other to the point where fellowship and unity are lost. We tend to treat each other the way in which we believe God is treating us. So, if we believe we are under the law then we believe that we are under the "ministry that brought condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:9)." Therefore, it makes sense that people who believe we are under the law will condemn those who believe in things like eternal security. They fear God will condemn them for their lack of obedience and their fear turns into condemnation for those who disagree.

When we were children we were told to eat our vegetables because they were healthy for us. Unfortunately, the poor taste of vegetables combined with our natural rebellion as children led to numerous conflicts with our parents. However, as you age and care more about your health, you realize the value of eating vegetables. This change of heart is what changed your mind about vegetables. When you encounter people who don't see things as you do, the memory of how you came to like vegetables motivates your behavior toward them. You don't condemn them for not eating vegetables, you give them the reason why you enjoy vegetables and trust this information will persuade them. When it comes to preaching the Gospel, what is the best tactic? Do you tell unbelievers they are going to hell for not accepting Jesus Christ or what persuaded you to accept the Lord? If sharing the Gospel with unbelievers is treated with grace, why can't we treat each other with that grace when it comes to disputable matters?

Anything, but Cut and Dry

The question was asked, "If the Bible is so cut and dry, why do no two Christians agree on doctrine?" To expand on their question, the individual followed up with the following: "Whether it's eternal security or some other basic truth of scripture how come no two Christians will agree with the Bible? I mean there are Christians out there that don't even believe that belief is good enough for salvation when the Bible clearly says "believe in Christ and you will be saved" in multiple spots. I mean its extremely difficult to get the truth out of scripture because everyone will interpret a particular verse differently. Why isn't there just one huge believe all belief that one can pick and say "Okay I believe that. Yay! I am saved now!"? Why all the divisions in the church and among Christians? What is the truth about scripture?" One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given is to not always accept the premise behind a question or questions. To do so automatically gives credibility to the question being asked. The individual asking all these questions started out by assuming that the Bible is "cut and dry." For something to be "cut and dry" is to say that it does not require much thought or discussion; that it lacks originality and is boring. Well, the Bible is far from any of these things. According to Guinness World Records, "A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies (of the Bible) were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion." I doubt a boring book that does not require much thought or discussion would have 5 billion copies printed of it. Furthermore, where is it written that the guideline for determining a doctrine to be true is that two Christians have to agree on it? If something is true it doesn't matter if nobody or everybody agrees on it. There is a principle in math that states, and I paraphrase, "if your foundation is wrong, your findings will be off." Therefore, if you start off wrong, but make all the right moves afterward, you will still miss the mark you were aiming for. That is the case with all these questions being asked. It would be so easy to accept the premise of the question and then get lost in the weeds as you go down endless rabbit trails trying to answer all the subsequent and open-ended questions that are asked.

However, there is one major thing missed here. The individual asking the question doesn't seem to realize that the Bible is full of examples where Christians disagreed on or didn't understand doctrine. You have the apostle Paul who said, "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28)." But, in his letter, James wrote, "As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone (James 2:24)." Peter, referring to Paul, writes, "He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16)." You have Apollos, of which the scriptures write, "He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him in and explained to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:25-26)." You have Paul and Peter disagreeing on justification and whether it is by faith or by works. Peter writes about how Paul wrote some things that were difficult to understand and were then distorted by others. Priscilla and Aquila had to explain the Gospel more accurately to Apollos because all he knew was the baptism of John. My point in all of this is that these Christians didn't necessarily agree on doctrine or, at the very least, didn't fully understand it. Therefore, when someone seems perplexed enough to ask why "no two Christians agree on doctrine," as if this premise is undermining scripture, the person needs to answer why scripture gives numerous examples of Christians not agreeing? Generally speaking, the reason why Christians may not agree goes back to what they believe about Jesus and salvation; the foundational premise. Everything a person believes about the faith and their walk starts there. Honestly, the only question that matters is the question Jesus asked His disciples; "Who do you say I am (Matthew 16:15)?” The one thing that all Christians have in common is faith in Jesus Christ. Modern Christians and the first Christians didn't agree on everything, but they did agree that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world and that faith in Him alone is the only way to get to Heaven. That is all that matters in the end. Yes, doctrine matters, but I trust that God, in Christ, will teach His children the truths of His word "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13)."

Unity of the Faith

"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:11-13

The other day I was asked, "What is it you enjoy most about your church?" I had to ponder for a moment so as not to give an answer off the top of my head. My response was, "I enjoy my church because the message that is preached is not taught anywhere else in the world as far as I know." That may sound strange given the fact there are millions of Christians around the world and thousands of churches that they meet inside. In general, the message preached is the same as is probably taught in those other churches; that Jesus Christ is our God and Savior and the only means by which mankind can be saved. However, the devil is in the details as they say. I have been a Christian for over 20 years and have interacted with hundreds of Christians both in person and online. Besides the fact that we all say we believe in Jesus Christ, for the most part, that is where the agreement ends. There is the assumption that every church teaches the same thing about how Christians are to live out our faith. For the majority of churches this assumption is true, but, unfortunately, when it comes to my church it is not. And thank God for it. The main difference between what is taught at my church and what I have experienced being taught in other churches is on the subject of the Gospel. Every church will say "we must preach the Gospel" to the lost world. Yet, the question that is never asked as a follow up is, "What is the Gospel?" or more to the point, "What is the problem that Jesus came to solve?" If someone has an answer to this question it has gone something like, "Jesus died for my sins so that when I die I will go to heaven." That is not incorrect, but it is incomplete. This answer stems from the belief that the main problem between mankind and God is that we are sinners who just need to accept Jesus' offer of forgiveness and you are saved. While I don't doubt God will save a person who believes that, the answer is not entirely correct. What I believe is that the problem between mankind and God is that we are spiritually dead in our sins prior to accepting Jesus Christ as our savior. Jesus Christ definitely died for our sins, but that was so He could restore the life of God, lost in Adam, to those who have placed a saving faith in Him. The Gospel is sin, death, forgiveness, and the restoration of life. Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, spiritually died (God removed His life from Adam), God forgave the sins of the world when Jesus died on the cross and, raised from the dead, He restores God's life to those who place faith in Him. That may seem minor to some, but the full effect of this difference reveals itself as Christians walk out their faith.

The difference between believing the Gospel is just Jesus died for my sins and believing that He died for my sins in order to restore the life of God to me is wider than the Grand Canyon. For those that believe the former, they are taught to believe that the sin issue still exists between themselves and God. Consequently, their lives become a life trapped in a cycle of sin, forgiveness, sin, forgiveness, repeat. Therefore, they end up believing things like their sins separate them from God. This, in turn, leads to inventing various types of unbiblical sacrifices to perform in order to get God to forgive them; confession booths, altar calls, repetitive prayers, keeping short accounts and so on. In the midst of this many will end up believing God is disgusted with them and will inflict multiple forms of "punishment" on them for their sins; removal of blessings, inflicting harm on them, turning away from them, etc. This is not the Christian life. For the few of us, in my opinion, that believe the latter in that our sins are no longer an issue between us and God, our lives become one of learning to trust and depend on our God in the midst of any sins we may commit. We still believe sin is a serious issue, but we know that God is not counting our sins against us. Besides, sin is so terrible that it deserves the death of God, Jesus Christ on the cross, as payment for those sins. We do not have a life to offer that God would accept. That is why there are no more sacrifices for sin. This allows God, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, to meet the deepest needs of our heart and get to know us while, in turn, we get to know Him; the definition of a relationship. The focus comes off of us and our behavior and on to Him and His love for us and life in us. It is the difference between spending our lives endlessly trying to please God through our efforts and spending our lives resting in the finished work of an already pleased God because of our faith in what Jesus Christ has already accomplished for us. That is Christian living! The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church about attaining "the unity of the faith" and "the knowledge of the Son of God." Christians will always struggle to attain this unity, this side of eternity because of this misunderstanding of the most important and basic element of the Christian faith. Many of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers that God has given to the church for nearly two thousand years have struggled to agree on these same subjects; the history of the early church detailed in the New Testament reveals this truth. However, God is still working within His church and building it daily. I, for one, am blessed to have discovered the fullness of the Gospel and am privileged to have the opportunity to share what God has revealed to me with anyone who will listen. This is why I enjoy my church.

It is not how we Bleed, but what we Believe

There is a popular Christian song out called, "Bleed the Same." The song opens with these Lyrics:

"We all bleed the same
We're more beautiful when we come together
We all bleed the same
So tell me why, tell me why
We're divided"

While the sentiment of this song is appreciated, it is short-sited and, for a Christian to ask, "Tell me why we're divided?" makes me wonder what they understand about the faith. As the song continues, we are presented with examples of the division going on in the world. It speaks of headlines talking about, "Another innocent life taken in the name of hatred." This appears to be referencing the various crimes in the world from terrorists attacks, to people being gunned down within the inner cities, by the police or in mass shootings, etc. Next, the song asks, "Are you left? Are you right? Pointing fingers, taking sides..." Obviously, this is referring to the political divide in the country that exists between the political parties, their supporters as well as the media reporting on the politics. It is true that we all "bleed the same." However, the answer to why we are divided is because we don't all "believe the same." All you have to do is look at what people believe to discover what motivates their actions. A terrorist said this when talking about his motivation: “Allah is our objective, the Quran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, Jihad is our way, and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” Just before he shot his female victims, a mass shooter in Canada told his victims, "I am fighting feminism." When it comes to politics, the rhetoric is glorified in campaign slogans like, "Make America Great Again," or "Change we can believe in." When you add in the volatility that can be found with the supporters on either side of the political spectrum, you will start hearing terms like, "Alt-Right" and "Looney Left" thrown around. It is endless. Jesus Christ said, "Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man ...  Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:11,17-19)." When we see people murdering others in the name of their god, it is because of what they believe in their heart about their god that is motivating them. When someone decides to go on a shooting rampage because they feel they are attacking feminism, it is because of what they believe in their heart that is motivating them. When people are supporting one political party over the other and using slogans and derogatory terms against their, perceived, enemies, it is because of what they believe in their heart that is motivating them.

In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul was addressing the men of Athens when he said, "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring (Acts 17:26-28)." When Paul says that God has made from "one blood" every nation of men, he is saying that all mankind is the descendant of the first man, Adam. So, it is true that in one sense, we do all "bleed the same" because of our common ancestor. But, because of sin, we are all born into this world spiritually dead to God. And while we are groping to seek the Lord, in order to rectify our need for Him, we end up believing in all sorts of things that the world offers through sin; false religion, gender issues, political identities, etc. When we put our faith in these worldly substitutes we end up living, moving and having our being in them instead of in the Lord. The end result is a divisiveness that keeps us all separated from each other and may even lead some to violent extremes in order to enforce their beliefs on others. Even if you don't believe in any of these topics mentioned, when you are living your life apart from Christ, your cause is still fulfilling the desires of your own flesh. This pursuit ends up with you defiling yourself with evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, bearing false witness, blasphemies and many more sins. Nobody is spared. It is all evidence that what you truly need is a change of heart and that change of heart can only come through a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. The desires we all have in our heart, that we try to fulfill with things from the world, were put there by God. However, they were put there by Him because He is the only one that can fulfill those desires. That only comes when the Holy Spirit of God, originally lost when Adam sinned, is restored to you upon your receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior. The moment you do, the life of God is restored to you; raising you from the dead spiritually. It is then and only then that we will all "believe the same" and become "united" instead of "divided." That is why the Apostle Paul would also write, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)." We may all bleed the same, but what is more important is that we believe the same about Jesus Christ, His shed blood for our sins, and His resurrected life for our salvation. We are more beautiful when we all come together through our shared faith in Jesus Christ.