How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron's beard,
down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore. (Psalm 133 , NIV)
Psalm 133 describes what life can be like when we delight in our relationships with each other. It’s a blessing I hope that we as a General Assembly and as a denomination can enjoy. If so, we’ve got some work to do. At this point, there seem to be three ways that we view some of our fellow PC(USA)-ers.
RESENTMENT: Some of us are like one of my colleagues, with whom I shared a conversation after a rather contentious presbytery meeting. Referring to another of our colleagues, he said that he wanted nothing to do with her. When I reminded him that God established a covenant relationship between us, he replied, “But I don’t want to be in a covenant with her!” Some of us may share that sentiment, even if we don’t express it so boldly.
TOLERANCE: Others of us may look to some groups in our denomination and consider them to be a presence to be tolerated or endured in our fellowship. We’re willing to put up with them, kind of like the way you put up with an annoying rattle in your car that would cost too much to fix.
ACCEPTANCE: Still others may consider ourselves to be enlightened enough to urge “acceptance” of people with different points of view or goals. We don’t understand what makes them tick, but apparently they’re God’s children, too. So we’ll make room for them.
Psalm 133 goes way beyond resentment, tolerance, and even acceptance. The psalmist describes the sense of blessing, nourishment, and richness of lives united by God’s action. It speaks of an enjoyment, and excitement, and a deep desire to be together. Our differences don’t matter nearly as much as the fact that, through the reconciling work of Christ, we belong together. Rather than resent, tolerate, or accept the covenant relationship we have with each other through God’s call, it’s time for us to celebrate it. Yes, even our unity with people who are very different from us, with whom we’d have no relationship at all if we had it our way. God, in his infinite, compassionate wisdom, has seen fit to bring us together. And he did it for a good reason. We haven’t even started to scratch the surface of the possibilities that come from our God-created relationships with each other. Hopefully the San Jose GA will be a place for us to start.
4 comments:
A warm, welcoming post. But disturbing at the same time. Tolerance and support of our brothers and sisters is indeed preached in the Bible.
However, we must be mindful of the frequent commands to "purge the evil from amongst you" in both the OT and in Paul's instructions. We must not be so permissive as to pronounce evil as good under the banner of "tolerance".
Let us pray that we do not undercut the authority and truth of the Bible by proclaiming "good" or "acceptable" that which the Lord says he despises.
All are sinful. God forgives. But let us not use these as excuses to continue to sin. When Christ forgave, he often added the caveat, "go and sin no more". It is clear in scripture that we are to try and live in righteousness as defined by God, not man. Gods righteousness is ageless and never "goes out of fashion".
As I look at the issues before this Assembly, I worry that our Church, like so many others, will compromise Biblical truths for "the ways of this world."
A warm, welcoming post. But disturbing at the same time. Tolerance and support of our brothers and sisters is indeed preached in the Bible.
However, we must be mindful of the frequent commands to "purge the evil from amongst you" in both the OT and in Paul's instructions. We must not be so permissive as to pronounce evil as good under the banner of "tolerance".
Let us pray that we do not undercut the authority and truth of the Bible by proclaiming "good" or "acceptable" that which the Lord says he despises.
All are sinful. God forgives. But let us not use these as excuses to continue to sin. When Christ forgave, he often added the caveat, "go and sin no more". It is clear in scripture that we are to try and live in righteousness as defined by God, not man. Gods righteousness is ageless and never "goes out of fashion".
As I look at the issues before this Assembly, I worry that our Church, like so many others, will compromise Biblical truths for "the ways of this world."
Richmond:
Thanks for your comment. Unity must of course be founded upon a shared understanding of the truth; see my post "On Peace, Unity, and Purity (Or, Being PETER)" for some of my thoughts on this. If we are not working from the same Biblical center, we are indeed moving in dangerous directions.
However, I fear that we are too quick to highlight our differences and too slow to recognize our commonalities. And at times we are tempted to denounce before seeking to understand. God calls us to act with wisdom.
Scripture abounds with examples of people who were certain that they were acting in the Lord's name to promote good and resist evil, only to discover that they were wrong about what God really wanted them to do. Paul on the Damascus Road and Peter on the rooftop in Joppa are two that come to mind. Today, people who firmly believe they are guided by God oppose other people who also firmly believe that they are guided by God. It's time to listen, humbly and respectfully, to discover if maybe God has something to teach us all.
Does this mean we should accept and welcome every idea that we meet? No, of course not! We are called to discernment, to testing the spirits. But this does mean that we ought to be ready to admit that maybe we don't have God's mind completely figured out, and that we have more to learn
Well said, and indeed true. Our God is a living God who reveals what pleases him. Many of the issues before modern society have no firm Biblical answer and require prayer and giving the Spirit the opportunity to enlighten us.
Sadly, the Prince of this World is also more than happy to distort our faith as he has done from the beginning. His deception of Eve began with just a little twist on God's commands.
On some issues, the Bible is clear. On other issues, to coin a phrase "what part of "no" didn't you understand?"
Israel rationalized worshipping Yahweh in addition to other gods. They chose the ways of the people around them to have peace rather than the ways God gave them at Sinai. We all know how that ended.
On some issues, we must pray for the strength to say "I don't know". On others, we must pray for the strength to say "brother, you are in error." All in love, all in peace.
To God be the Glory,
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