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How Do We Treat Our Siblings?
by Carol Balizet
One enormous common factor for all of us is the Father's hope that we will all love, accept, respect and assume good about all His body. He wants us to be one as Jesus and His Father are one. And that means Methodists accepting Amish, Catholics accepting Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists accepting Evangelicals, Lutherans accepting Greek Orthodox. And vice versa! |
Contents:
Introduction
One of the many goals of our ministry to home birth couples has been to deal with anything we could see or discern that might make their lives, to some extent at least, "unblessable;".; We looked for behavior, attitudes, or beliefs that would serve to hinder, delay or prevent the Lord's blessings. There are dozens of these factors-which-can-hinder, and they need to be dealt with to clear the way for blessings. Maybe it doesn't always matter a lot, maybe we never think of what might hinder the Lord's prompt response to prayer, but when you're planning a home birth, with only the Lord in attendance, it suddenly matters. The couples are very willing to listen to any counsel we offer in order to produce a life with no obstacles to being blessed.Being "blessable;" doesn't mean a state of sinless perfection. It just means reasonable sanctity, a willing heart and obedience to current light. The ministry has no laws or lists of things we require; the focus is always on "What; is God saying to you about this?" - never a dogmatic word based on what He has told us. We use the example of a family with a number of different children - which is of course just what the Lord has. Wise parents - and God - would not place the same requirements on a three year old as on a sixteen year old. A three year old should come when he is called (and come cheerfully, the first time); he should pick up his toys willingly; and he should be toilet trained. And we mustn't fault him for not being able to drive or to earn money. But toilet training and coming when called is not at all the limit of what we should expect from a sixteen year old. This fellow should be able to cut the grass, maybe know how to drive. It's what is appropriate to the individual, and what has been taught. Like an good parent, the Lord deals with us as individuals, and in addition to the age factor, there are other areas in the Christian life which are individualized; the Father doesn't deal with all of us the same.
God's requirement vs. what people require
I think we must cut each other some slack and allow each man to hear in his own language. Because it's clear from the Word that what the Lord cares most about in this New Covenant is not so much what we do or don't do compared to others, but how we handle the differences. We must not offend nor cause a brother to stumble. I want to make our position clear. We do believe that there are absolutes: for example, there are things which we must believe. There are also things we may not believe; things which are heretical and not just a little variation on truth. Likewise, there are things which no Christian can do; they are plain, flat-out sin and forbidden. But most of the areas where Christians differ are really optional. They are subject to the control and timing of the Holy Spirit for each individual, and are not subject to other Christians. So unless there is flagrant sin, we don't presume to stand as God to direct a man's life or his family. You listen to Christian Rock? Do you own a gun? Does it matter to you whether or not I do? I know several people who won't read fiction, but they love me and I have written and published fiction! Some of our brothers may watch two football games each weekend. Is that automatically a sin? What about tithing? Is that required under our covenant? How do we keep the Sabbath, if indeed we do anything? Personally, I have often been rebuked because I drink coffee with caffeine. And heaven help me, I even use sugar! But the Book says that He has given me all things richly to enjoy, and that the prayer of thanksgiving will sanctify the food, and more importantly: God hasn't told me not to drink it. And until He does, I am not in sin no matter what God told somebody else about coffee. (And incidentally, this is not a complete list of my failures with God; just a sampling to use as examples. If I listed all of them, I'd be here for days!)Externals can be deceptive
All this judging by externals is dangerous. God looks on the heart, and of course we cannot possible know another person's heart. In fact, the Bible says we don't even known our own! (David asked the Lord to reveal his "secret;" sin.) We must guard against putting our own standards and convictions on other people. I remember one time when my sister and I were listening to a Christian lady slander, judge and defame a third party. It was not just an evil report; it was serious accusation and the spirit of the Pharisee was having a heyday against the absent lady. My sister asked me, in a very innocent voice, "What; do you think is worse and hurts our Lord more: if we commit a sin, or if we're proud and boastful because we haven't committed that particular sin?" Our Christian friend walked away, apparently angry rather than convicted, but I remember the point. I am not accountable for others unless God has made them my responsibility. And certainly, my role is not to reveal the sin to a third party. There has to be some space to let the Holy Spirit lead all of us as He sees fit. Like the Israelites taking dominion in the Promised Land, we secure it little by little, as directed by God. So in our ministry, we are not ever going to take over His role in the couples' lives.And what about church membership? This is probably the most common ground for offending God about His other children. We think, "Oh;, he's a (fill in the blank) so he's second class, deceived, grieving to God, inferior." Or we judge, "He; goes to (fill in the blank) church, fellowship, group, whatever, so he's probably not even a Christian." It's a very significant factor, his business of how we treat and judge other Christians, and one which significantly impacts how the Lord deals with us. How does God view this controversial situation?
First of all, I am not saying that all churches, fellowships, denominations and such are equal, in truth, wisdom, effect or sanctity. The point is not what his church is like; it's how incredibly precious he is to God, what an unthinkably high price the Lord paid to get him, and how some day we will stand before the throne of judgement. And there we shall account for all our words - including what we've said about him. And the poor guy has probably as good a shot at heaven as did the Good Thief on Calvary; he just asked to be let in and Jesus said, "Certainly;! Welcome!" And we balance this with "Straight; is the way and narrow the gate that leads to ======= and few there be who find it".; We don't know the condition of any man's soul, and only rarely is it our responsibility to do anything more than pray for him. So let's quit even comparing sheep with sheep, or denominations with denominations. Let's learn to love our siblings, whoever they are and wherever they attend worship services. We may have a church situation that is far superior to his, but we can't let that segue into a belief that we are superior to him.
Over and above the essential core truths, which we all believe and obey in order to be accurately called Christian, there is a lot of leeway in what is permissible and what is forbidden in the Christian walk. Different denominations have differing beliefs about Communion, about authority structures, about dress codes and food laws. We can move into things like separation from the world, political activism, methods of worship, days of worship, use of the Hebrew language and Jewish ceremonies, women with heads covered and silent or free to speak in the assembly, TV or no TV, how and where to school our children, to whose authority and how completely should we submit, on and on and on - we see room for choices and differences.
And I must add, one enormous common factor for all of us is the Father's hope that we will all love, accept, respect and assume good about all His body. He wants us to be one as Jesus and His Father are One. And that means Methodists accepting Amish, Catholics accepting Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists accepting Evangelicals, Lutherans accepting Greek Orthodox. And vice versa! Jesus prayed, as recorded in John's Gospel, "Father;, that they may be one as we are One".; This is a requirement, folks! We don't have to agree, but we must accept, love and delight in all our Christian's family, and assume the best about them. This goes no matter how mixed up, lacking, faulty and just plain wrong they are! They see us the same, mixed up, lacking, faulty and just plain wrong. But all of us are beloved, cherished, desired and welcomed by the Father! And maybe they're not as bad as all that; maybe there's some redeeming factor in them somewhere. Remember, the Book says, "Charity; hopes all things".; And finally: we may not say - or even think - "Thank; you, Father, that I am not like they are!" The fellow who did this really offended God.
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