ARE WE CHURCHES OUR OWN WORST ENEMY?

We must ever be the students who seek the will of God.  If He is who we claim that He is, it should be admitted that He will not fit into our convenient cubicles of limited exercises and understanding. God is God.  He carries us; not us Him.

I remain convinced that a large populace of society wants to know God.  They are not interested in our pet peeves; one religious group debating another.  It would seem that we simply must address this matter in a humble way which would consider, in the best honesty that we can muster, what we may be doing that blocks good people from knowing God.

I noted something pertinent in last night's scene of the President addressing congress.  Half supported the President and half don't.  It was a reversed claim under a different President just a few months earlier.  The visible divide is disheartening.  Why?  It would seem that party lines have become the dominant issue; not the give-and-take from both sides of the aisle that just might bring a new offering of hope to our nation.

This visual of blatant public division made me take a look at myself.  Do I represent the same spirit of division; yet, under the name of Truth for God?  Have I taken on Church of Christ to out-believe the Baptists or the Presbyterians?  And have some in those two camps done the very same thing?

It would seem that in recent years we may have all made strides of improvement toward respectful harmony.  I attended a Baptist prayer gathering once a week at noon for several years.  All faiths were invited.  I was the only non-Baptist to attend.  I did not die.

Yet, I think we (including myself) have much work to do to move forward into the expansive walk of God.  Our biasistic tendencies according to our particular denomination must fade.  In no way do I believe that we should shed our convictions on many specific doctrinal matters.  But what must be included is our equal conviction that when God called for unity of the Spirit, He meant it.

Conservative versus Liberal is not restricted to politics only.  It is rampant in the most cherished theme; the basics of Christianity.  We are not right.  He gives us His righteousness because none of us can accomplish such on our own.  None.  Of.  Us.  While each group of us may have mastered a few of God's concepts and details, each division is surely to be found lacking in abundant matters of which we still need to mature.

We are not the enemy of one another.  The resurrected Jesus brings us to a humble stand-still because it is clear we could not save ourselves....then....or now.  He had to cover for us because we could not pull off our own rescue....then....or now.

I am still in Kindergarten in learning and I very much love the thought.  I still hunger to know what God wishes somebody would learn that has yet to be considered.  My heart wishes to speak at the moment of the hope which lies in front of us; not in despair of our past failures.  We've all been engaged in the latter.  Yet, it is the former that inspires each of us to grow in Spirit that God might be both worshiped and honored.