December 01, 2008
People of Faith
At some time or another I think we’ve all struggled in interacting with folks from different religious backgrounds with whom we are polarized opposites. My fear is, if a group falls in the cult category, does having fellowship with them encourage them to think I’m accepting of their beliefs? Last week I participated in a community Thanksgiving service where those in the program came from all different denominations. We had everything in common as far as Scripture reading, songs, prayers and the messages. It’s undeniable that everyone at the service was a person of faith…even if that faith is not in Jesus Christ as Savior.
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Gail;
-----Faith is the contents for a vessel. It can be placed in the vessel that is Jesus Christ. It can be placed in wealth. Or it can be simply placed in self. The point is: will the vessel still carry the faith when all is summed up on that Great Day? The truth is: only Jesus Christ will carry faith through that day. So everyone having the desire of attaining eternal life run to Christ with their content of faith. And they place their faith in the vessel they best understand to be Him, if they are sincere. Paul tells us that we all see dimly as through a mirror. Yet he tells us that we are to be convinced in our own minds. Therefore, as individuals, we each place our faith in a vessel of our best understanding about Jesus Christ that is more or less unique to our own Bible study, meditations, and experiences. When we each paint the vessel, we can only do so by our own understanding. So every vessel on display bears its own uniqueness. Paul dismisses this problem from being a source of controversy by telling us to each keep our faith between himself and God. Therefore we all can have unity in that each of our intensions is to place our faith in the vessel that is Christ. And He receives that faith because of our intentions, not because of our accuracy in Bible study, thought processes, or perceptions. He knows our errors and accepts us regardless. We must each confess our erroneous nature, and accept one another, as well. For the Holy Spirit knows each heart to the separating of the spirit from the soul. And the Holy Spirit guides each one in his or her own individual life, building as much truth in it as the humility and obedience of it allows.
-----But that discussion goes only so far as sincerity, humility, and obedience allows for even the participation of the Holy Spirit. For some are so self deceived that they paint the vessel of themselves, or any other variety of vessels, to look as if it were the Lord. Paul said that we could not disassociate from the immoral, the greedy, the robbers, and the idolaters of the world because we can not go out of the world. These sorts with facetious vessels are part of the world, and we must live and act in the world as well. Our country and society are not the church. The founding fathers did not supply in the constitution for them to be the church. So the community thanksgiving gathering is that of the world, and we can be thankful there is still thanksgiving in this part of the world that is our country and society. We can participate in it, with thankfulness in our hearts for what the Lord has done for it, and with thankfulness in our hearts for what our neighbors have done, too, matter not their faith.
-----But of those who come into the church professing faith placed in the Lord, the story is a bit different. Paul tells us not to associate with any who call themselves brethren and are immoral, greedy, robbers, or idolaters. This gets very tricky, because the Biblical principle of dim sight still applies, as does the principle of each being convinced in his or her own heart, and the principle of keeping the faith that you have between yourself and God, as well as the principle of not judging your brother. In short, individuality still lives in the brethren. The New Testament is full of passages indicating it. Certainly, individuality must stand, but not to the death of mutuality. A person must know who is being received into the faith and fellowship. Is the Mormon sitting next to you truly saved and a brother or sister in the Lord? The Christian Scientist? The Jehovah’s Witness? The Seventh-Day Adventist? The Presbyterian? The Pentecostal? The Baptist? Everyone errs to some extent in their personal theology. How much error is necessary before the vessel of faith actually ceases to be Jesus Christ? The Lord knows. We must discern. But we need to be careful, because we are not excused from unity by mere theological differences. Perplexing, isn’t it?
Love,
Steve Corey
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