My dad used to tell me, “Do as I say, don’t do as I do.” Now, my dad is not a man of low character and values, he was just pointing out the difficulty we all have living out our perceived values. As Christians, we all struggle with the fact that our actions and words don’t always line up.
Churches have many struggles with internal conflict. As a friend of mine once noted, “not everyone will always see eye-to-eye on things, but those things should not split up a church”. This is true, but what is it that still causes churches to have splits when this should not happen? As the body of Christ, we lose sight of the cross. The “I am right, you are wrong” mentality certainly permeates our churches and the end result is a lack of compassion and mercy; and a growing sense of pride when humility should be at the core of our hearts. This leads to division and a fracturing of relationships; resulting in splits and broken relationships.
When Christians stand at the foot of the cross, we are all reminded of who we really are without Christ; lost, blind, dead and hopelessly unable to find our way. As we stand closer to the cross, we will begin to smell the sweat of the Roman soldiers and hear the clanging of the hammer upon the nails being driven into our Savior. We all need to stand close to the cross so we can be reminded of who is holding the hammer; you and me.
It is vitally important to the health of the church to apply a rich understanding of the gospel of Christ to every part of our lives. It is not our good works or programs that maintain unity in the fellowship, it is recognizing the shed blood of our Savior and His free gift of grace and applying it to every part of our mind, body and soul.
Grace and Mercy,
Tommy
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