Where have the last few months gone to? I feel as though in a blink summer is nearly over and before we know it School and Co-Op’s will be starting back up again. Our house has been busy in a way that has felt out of my control. I had said to myself “I want to have a relaxed, simple, slow summer.” It has been anything but relaxed, simple, and slow…and for that reason I have not had much time to sit down and write. Well, enough is enough! I decided last week that while I might not have the mental capacity or the time to sit down and take time to write on all the different topics I have been wanting to share my thoughts on, I can make the time to sit down and share some content from earlier in the year that was only posted on my Instagram, prior to my Substack Days.
I pray that some of these messages might be encouraging. That perhaps they might be a message you are needing to hear, or at the very least, just enjoyable to read.
Without further adieu…
It has not been easy for us to find a fellowship that has a constitution we can agree on.
Denominations in our culture have driven such a wedge in dividing the body and compartmentalizing beliefs and interpretations into set forms of “churches”.
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What denomination has it figured out?
The plain answer is none do.
Not one.
We are human, and we are all subject to fallibility.
When choosing a fellowship, or as what most people coin to be “a church”, we need to be diligent.
I don’t believe it’s as easy as “well I like the people” or “it’s where I grew up”.
No.
Things are far more complicated under the surface and if we do not do our homework then we will have problems.
What does their constitution say?
Does it align with your convictions of how the Holy Spirit has led you to read scripture?
Can you agree with their form of baptism?
Can you agree with their leadership roles for men and women?
Is what they claim regarding salvation, what the Bible says?
Ultimately, we will never find a “perfect fellowship” or “perfect church”.
They are all filled with imperfect people.
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So what can we do in a culture filled with denominations that have caused divisions, rather than just diversity?
Be a BEREAN!
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
Take whatever you hear, whatever is claimed to be true, whatever is taught, back to scripture.
Does it line up with the word of God?
Pray and consider.
Don’t just take it at face value.
Don’t just think “they went to school to be a pastor, they know what they are saying”.
NO!
Far too long we trusted people who were twisting God’s word to fit the narrative of the message they wanted to get across.
Let us be diligent.
Let us be wise.
Let us prayerfully consider and ask God, that the Holy Spirit would be present to help us discern context and interpretation when we read our Bible privately and when listen to anyone who is teaching His word to others.
It’s the promise we have been given as believers.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Jude’s and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Let’s actually accept that promise and use it to our intellectual advantage!
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Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Acts 17:11
Amen, I don't know if it's the same in the USA, but I've noticed in Australia that people get very caught up in denominations and will only go to churches of particular denominations. We were not called to be Baptists or Methodists, but we're called to be Christ followers. Yes, most of us have preferences regarding how churches are run, but if we go to church to fellowship with Jesus and serve others, as long as the core doctrinal beliefs are biblically sound, the rest should not matter. No church will be perfect, and we will not always agree. However, that is the beauty of community. (I probably could write a whole post on this, haha) Thanks for sharing your thoughts!