The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing...

Hmmmmmmmmm....

Ever had one of those conversations that suddenly sparks things off in your head?

I've just been talking to a friend from my church. To get the background, maybe you should know that I am one of those christians that belives in a literal six day creation, that believes all the people from adam to Jesus and beyond were literal historical figures. I'm one of those crazy people who thinks although ken ham looks like the missing link (which is quite ironic!) actually... he's kinda cool. In some ways, people would call me "fundamentalist" in the worst possible usage of the term, which in some senses, I'm not ashamed of being, but in others I hate.

I have a problem with these kind of debates tho.

Unfortunately when we get an idea of God speaking to us as Christians, we tend to go overboard, "over-zealous" could be a nice term.

This happenned alot in the Early Church, from the people who wanted to be "good christians" and follow the old jewish law (judaisers) to the people who had great spiritual gifts in Corinth, to before the church in Judaism, the Pharisees who sought too reform and purify the Jewish people...

Indeed this seems to have happenned down the whole history of the Church, when one group of Christians took up and placed a particular idea or doctrine, or teaching or attribute of God above another...

Every time God speaks and we think we hear Him, when he revelas a new truth to us, we rush out and put it in a box, nail it down, and secure it firmly in our consciousness, so that we can use it as a mark of our own "orthodoxy"... It seems as if somehow we're petrified that the truth that has been revealed to us/we've learned will somehow evaporate unless we "solidify" it into a concept or an idea, or a statement, or a three point sermon...

The thing is, that's not why God reveals things to us. He is much bigger than our thoughts of Him, he reveals things so we can learn more about how amazing He is, not so we can put Him in a box.

I'm afraid that the church is becoming more and more divisive in our opinions, and more and more unwilling to listen to others who disagree with our particular interpretation of lesser things.

Don't get me wrong, I believe to be a Christian, you must agree on the central truth: Christ was born, Christ lived, Christ Died on the Cross, and Christ rose again.

That being the case, what we believe (and interpret) about the rest is important to each of us, but it must only be important in relation to the central truth of the Cross.

The whole Creation V's Evolution debate has gotten out of hand. Christians (from both sides of the debate) are slagging off each other, claiming they know "the truth" and that their "truth" is the only possible interpretation, therfore the other side must be in error, and not properly "Christian". In recent months, I've seen this happen with Steve Chalk's book, the Jerry Springer Opera, Women in Ministry, Worship Styles, The Rapture, AntiChrist, and countless other issues.

I'm not saying I don't have my own personal views on these things; for me to have no views would be to say I didn't engage my faith with my brain! Holding views, even strongly, is not at issue here.

Holding them to the detriment of fellow Christians is.

Paul, speaking in a similar situation to the Christians in Galatia, when he saw "Doctrine" overriding Christlike Love, said this:

14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which 'c' the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
( 'c' Or through whom)

(The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1996, c1989 (Ga 6:14). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)

Here's another way of saying it:

14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by '2' whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world
( 2 Or which, the cross)

(The New King James Version. 1996, c1982 (Ga 6:13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)

Paul knew more about Doctrine than anyone else.

But I think he knew that while Doctrine can contain the truth, Doctrine in and of itself, is not "The Truth" and we should not make it so...

If you've learned something from the Bible... great! If God has revealed something to you about Himself or His Word... great!

Learn from it, and learn how to apply it. Don't MAKE others believe it though, don't nail it down, and use it as a tool to base judgements on.

If you do, you'll have lost the whole point of being given truth.

It's good to think about our faith, and to discuss what it could mean/does mean. Even more so with someone who disagrees with you, as the proverb talks about sharpening each other as we debate. But let's not forget that when we meet Jesus face to face in heaven, whether that's before/after/in spite of The Rapture, The Millenial Reign, etc...

He won't be concerned with these things...

He'll be asking what did you do with Me? Did you believe in Me? Did you do what I told you? These are the things He will be interested in, and maybe that should be a starter for us while we're still here and He hasn't come yet!

Please, please, let's learn to disagree on the peripherals of our faith, (note: strength of belief on an issue does not equal strength of validity!!) and agree on the true "fundamentals" of God becoming Man, and giving up Heaven so he could die and rise and make us like Him.

Let's learn to live like like He asked us to, by loving one another.

How can you hate someone who bows down to wash your feet?!