“This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13 NLT)
Does it bother you that many who profess “maturity” in their faith hold such rigid standards it only leads to further division, not unity? It seems if others can’t live up to the measure of maturity they have created for themselves, there’s no basis for unity. And what’s troubling to me is that that isn’t what Jesus taught.
And please don’t misunderstand, the Lord set very high standards for us to pursue while in this body, but the fact we’ll never achieve full maturity in our faith this side of heaven should encourage us to be more open to each other, not less open. Realizing that none of us have it completely “right” should open lines of communication, not close them.
To believe I have mastered all truth is to essentially say I’ve become completely like Christ in every way. That’s not only ludicrous, it’s also blasphemous. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating.” As followers of Christ, we’re not only compelled by our commission to love one another, but to work cooperatively with one another.
It’s interesting to me that denominational lines get blurred very quickly when you travel to overseas missions. Missionaries work together across denominational lines, not to make one another believe like they do, but to help those whom they’re seeking to reach love the Jesus they both love and are seeking to serve. Does it seem strange that Jesus followers who love well work well together? It shouldn’t, because that’s the Lord’s plan.
Thom Rainer nailed it when he wrote: “Other local churches are your ministry partners, not your ministry competitors.” Not many lost people care what the shingle over the door says if they can find acceptance, love, and guidance in finding their way through the frightening circumstances we’re now experiencing.
Having said that, I’m well aware of counterfeit groups who use similar terminology, but with completely different meaning, that are leading people away from the God of the Bible. Pray for them and seek to build bridges of communication in an effort to reach them, but don’t follow their theology.
Open lines of communication with those of different denominational preferences who are walking faithfully with the Christ of the Bible, because they are our partners in ministry, not our enemy. If we’re willing to sit together and pray together, we’ll likely find that we have far more in common than we’ve allowed ourselves to realize.
When I was active in pastoral ministry my closest friends and co-laborers we’re brothers and sisters who pastored churches who may have emphasized different teachings from the Bible, but whose hearts and minds were centered squarely on Jesus. We often worked together to reach our community for the Savior.
The sad reality is, especially in small churches, there’s a fear that if we cooperate with other churches in our community “my” people might like that other church (or pastor) better than me and “my” church. Even more frustrating is when a pastor would deliberately seek to draw the members of another church to theirs, but, gratefully, in my experience, that was extremely rare.
So, what’s the bottom line? Get to know believers who believe differently than you. Listen to one another without judgment or a critical spirit and allow the Lord to melt your hearts with love for those who love the same Jesus you love, but maybe in a little different way.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 