Tag Archives: unity

What if everyone were just like me?

churchWhat kind of church would my church be if all its members were just like me?

Stop and think about it. What would your congregation be like if everyone were just like you? What would be done better? What would go undone? What would the worship be like? How about the evangelism? Would the poor be helped or would needs go unmet?

I have to admit that asking myself these questions makes me look at a lot of things in me. I see so many things that I could be and should be, but I’m not. It’s tempting for me to focus on your shortcomings and your failures, but in the end, it’s mine that I need to worry about.

So here are a few things that I plan to try and do to make our church a better place

  1. Focus first on visitors and newcomers. There will be time later to talk to friends, to work out church business, and to do whatever I need to with our members. First I’ll try and speak to those who are new or those who are in need.
  2. Worship and let worship. I will worship God to the best of my ability without worrying about what you are doing or about what you think about what I’m doing.
  3. Focus on what matters. One of my glaring faults is an ability to be bothered by unimportant things. (OK, I can be a control freak.) So I’m going to try and recognize that my way is not the only way. I won’t “sweat the petty things.” I’ll try and focus on eternal things, not just the things I can see around me.
  4. Look for the good of the body, not my individual “rights.” Society says that we have certain basic rights that we need to stand up for. Jesus says that I need to spend my time protecting the rights and interests of others.

So how about you? What do you need to change? I hope that you’ll be brave enough to face up to whatever it is and do what it takes to improve in that area.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Prayer request

hands2-by-jesper-noerI left last Thursday for Cuba on a Herald of Truth trip and returned yesterday afternoon (just in time to teach class at ACU). I want to tell you a bit about that trip, but I’ll wait until I have some pictures available. In the meantime, I wanted to mention about the bilingual group at the University church here in Abilene. For a number of different reasons, things are going very well with the group right now. Attendance is up, we’ve had several baptisms over the last few months, and the cohesion between members is stronger than ever. This Sunday, for the first time since I came to University three years ago, our group is getting to meet in the auditorium with the rest of the congregation. [Edit: This is the first time the service will be bilingual, not the first time we’ve met together.] I’ve been asking for this for over a year, so I’m glad that it’s finally happening.

So I ask you to pray for our gathering this Sunday, that it will be an encouragement to all involved. Above all, pray that God will be glorified.

(Photo by Jesper Noer)

Response to the latest Knowlesletter

The hubbub (or is it a brouhaha? I get those confused) continues over the new directory of Churches of Christ that came out recently. One of the latest to condemn the directory was Victor Knowles, founder of Peace on Earth ministries, when he wrote about this in his latest Knowlesletter. [Which, by the way, seems to offer no way to respond online] When the compiler of the directory states that “The one unifying constant that defines whether or not such a congregation is included in this document is the practice of a cappella worship services,” Knowles jumps to the attack, saying that the one unifying constant should be our faith in Jesus as the Christ. Besides the fact that Knowles’ argument once again confuses inclusion in a directory of a cappella churches with a statement about fellowship, I also found several inconsistencies in his attack, not the least of which is the fact that directories of independent Christian churches don’t include every a cappella church in their lists! (one of the reasons why Mac Lynn started his directory in the first place). Does anyone know of a directory that attempts to list all congregations that Knowles would consider to be part of the Lord’s body?

What really jumped out to me were these words on Page 2 of the Knowlesletter: “The lastest report to come to us from our churches in Cuba tells us…Our churches? As Knowles talks about the churches all being house churches that are not recognized by the government, he makes it clear that “our churches” doesn’t include the many a cappella churches of Christ on that island, since they enjoy full legal recognition. Let me point out, I have nothing against these house churches; I’ve met some of the members and even baptized some of them myself. We have enjoyed times of fellowship, and I fully consider them to be my brothers. But with Knowles’ views on church unity, how can he support the continued existence of these groups? (By support, I include financial support, since he asks for money for them) There are legal churches on the island; why encourage these people to continue to defy the government by meeting illegally? If Knowles truly believes that there is no real difference between the independent Christian churches and the churches of Christ, he should immediately cease financial support for these illegal groups and encourage the Christians to meet with their brothers that have full recognition.

Or is this talk of unity just that? Talk. Kind of makes you wonder.

[You might like to read Steve Ridgell’s latest comments on the directory]

The war that almost was

mapJoshua 22 tells an interesting story of how civil war almost struck the nation of Israel at the time of its very founding. The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had chosen land east of the Jordan for their inheritance; however, they agreed to cross the Jordan and help the other tribes secure their land. Once the conquest was “finished” (although it really wasn’t), Joshua dismissed these tribes and allowed them to go back to their lands. Joshua sternly warned them to keep the Lord’s commandments.

After they crossed the Jordan river, these “easterners” erected an altar. The other tribes were scandalized to see that their kinsmen had fallen into idolatry so quickly. They determined to erase this blight once and for all, so the Bible says “the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.” These men were battle-hardened veterans; they knew what war was, and they were ready to fight.

Fortunately they saw fit to send a delegation ahead of the troops. This delegation learned that the altar had been erected not for the purpose of sacrifice, but as a sign of unity, reminding the people on the east side of the river of their connection to those on the west and reminding their occidental brothers that they too were part of the people of God. (They said that they would be able to say “Behold, the pattern” to any who doubted their connection to God’s people, meaning that their unauthorized altar was a replica of the authorized one. Ironically, that saying became the title of a book against “unauthorized” things in the church.)

The visitors were satisfied with the explanation. The delegation returned to the waiting troops and told them it had all been a misunderstanding. A civil war was averted.

 

I see a powerful lesson here. We can’t judge by appearances alone. When we see something that looks wrong to us, we should investigate, not accuse. We should always be ready to think the best of our brothers in Christ.

Do we give our brothers the benefit of the doubt, or do we prepare for war? How many Christians fall due to “friendly fire”?

*****

 The Cookie Thief
by Valerie Cox

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shops.
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,
That the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be.
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,
As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I would blacken his eye.”

With each cookie she took, he took one too,
When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.
With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other,
She snatched it from him and thought… oooh, brother.
This guy has some nerve and he’s also rude,
Why he didn’t even show any gratitude!

She had never known when she had been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat,
Then she sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,
There was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.

If mine are here, she moaned in despair,
The others were his, and he tried to share.
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

Communion meditation: One loaf, one body

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
If I were to choose a passage to read regularly before the Lord’s Supper, it would not be 1 Corinthians 11. It would be 1 Corinthians 10. Obviously we need the explanation of the meaning of the bread and the wine, but if we ever forget that the Lord’s Supper is communion, we will have forgotten the purpose of this meal. By eating and drinking together, we are bound together, in a spiritual bond every bit as real as any physical one. We are one. We eat and drink as a body. We participate in Christ’s blood and his body. We are joined to one another. We are joined to the Lord.
When I join in this meal, I am joining in an unbroken chain of Christians that goes back to the table of the Last Supper. When I join in this meal, I am joining in an unbroken chain of Christians around the world that take part in this same memorial. The languages are different, but the words they express tell the same gospel story, express the same unity around the Lord’s Table.
We, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. Powerful words. Powerful reality.