WHAT DOES A HEALTHY CHURCH LOOK LIKE?
A blind man, feeling the leg of an elephant said, "It's like a strong
tree." The second, holding the trunk, reckoned that "It's like a thick
vine." The third blind man, running his hands across the large body of
the elephant, exclaimed, "No, it is like a wide mountain."
The NT Christians were like that. Paul was strong on faith; James on
works. Luke-Acts has a lot about prophets; John hardly mentions them.
The church, says Paul, is like a single body, but has many parts.
Our Lord bluntly targeted the narrow nationalism of his own people,
particularly in stories like the Good Samaritan. Here the 'foreigner' is
a hero. 'Ethnocentrism' is the glorification of my group, leading to a
kind of spiritual apartheid: I'll do my thing and you do yours - over
there. Territoriality ('my place - keep out!') replaces hospitality ('my
place - you're welcome!').
In our global village we cannot avoid relating to 'different others'.
Indeed, marriage is all about two different people forming a unity in
spite of their differences. Those differences can of course be
irritating - for example when a 'lark' marries an 'owl' (but the Creator
made both to adorn his creation).
No one branch of the church has a monopoly on the truth. Differences
between denominations or congregations - or even within them - reflect
the rich diversity and variety of the social, cultural and temperamental
backgrounds from which those people come. But they also reflect the
character of God whose grace is 'multi-coloured'. If you belong to
Christ and I belong to Christ, we belong to each other and we need each
other. Nothing should divide us. So we should accept one another, as we
are each accepted by God (Romans 15:7).
Snoopy was typing a manuscript, up on his kennel. Charlie Brown: 'What
are you doing, Snoopy?' Snoopy: 'Writing a book about theology.' Charlie
Brown: 'Good grief. What's its title?' Snoopy (thoughtfully): 'Have You
Ever Considered You Might Be Wrong?' God's truth is very much bigger
than our little systems.
More... http://jmm.aaa.net.au/catalog/section/yc1.htm
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Shalom/Salaam! Rowland Croucher
http://jmm.aaa.net.au/
(20,000 articles 4000 humor)
Blogs - http://rowlandsblogs.blogspot.com/
Justice for Dawn Rowan - http://dawnrowansaga.blogspot.com/
Funny Jokes and Pics - http://funnyjokesnpics.blogspot.com/
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