I am becoming more and more a fan of Eugene Peterson’s “The Message – Remix.” I guess that is another name for version 2! In the Epistle reading for this week (Romans 14:1-12) we read some interesting words as translated by Peterson. He begins by writing, “Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department.” Just think about this for a minute, “How would church be if we were all the same?”
One of the things I love the most about the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is that we do not have a dogmatic belief system that we must adhere to or we can’t be a “Disciple.” I hope that you realize that one of the early “belief statements” of the Stone-Campbell movement was the simple phrase, “In essentials, unity, in non-essentials freedom, in all things charity (love)” which was adapted from an older source. Think about what that means. What is essential to being a Christian? In reality, there is one thing that allows us to become “Christian” and that is, as Romans 10:9-10 reads, “confess with your mouth that “Jesus is lord” and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead and you will be saved.” (paraphrase mine) However, that only puts us in what we could call a “right relationship with Christ.” Then we are required to live out the Christ-like life, using Jesus as our primary example. That is what Peterson is getting at in his opening verse here. He also writes that “None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters (the non-essential things). It is God we are answerable to—all the way from birth to death and everything in between.” (vv8-9) And then one day we all will stand before God and will be judged, not according to what someone else did, but what we did! That is an essential! Peterson closes this by writing, “Your crucial and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit!” We can and should be able to accept each other for who and what we are. We are different and yet we love and serve the same God together. Ain’t that great?!!? Amen. 9/22/2017 02:37:42 pm
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This blog consists of reflections written by the minister each week for the Sunday bulletin. We hope that you enjoy the musings! Archives
January 2020
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