A friend was preaching for me that morning.  I was away on vacation.  My new church was only a few months old consisting of about 30 people, an even mix of Charismatic and (how shall I put it?) Non-Charismatics.

 
Before the sermon, the worship leader stood up, making it clear in no uncertain terms that those who didn't lift up their hands while they sang were not truly worshipping God.  In fact, to really get into it, they ought to dance also.  Within moments, a woman ran out the door crying.  This is what I came home to.  In those days, when a vacation was over, it was really over.

 
It had always been a personal dream to start an inter-denominational church, a place where Christians could worship together despite their differences.   Agreeing together on important matters like salvation, they would allow for variations in music, dress and theological views of lesser significance (defining lesser significance as any issue other than the identity of Jesus and His gospel message.)  Now, my dream was being destroyed before it even had a chance to blossom.  Satan was dropping his bombs on our "Pearl Harbor" so that the ships could never go out to sea.

 
My first attempt at putting the pieces together was not very successful.  I made the mistake of trying to reason from scripture.  Reality check: People's feelings are usually more important to them than scripture.

 
"In Romans 14," I said to my young Charismatic friends, "Paul says ' Who are you to judge someone else's servant?  To his own master he stands or falls.  And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.  One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike.  Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.  He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ' "

 
"We aren't talking about food or days," they replied, 

 
"But can you see that the same principle applies?"

 
"No, because elsewhere the Bible talks about lifting hands and in the Psalms, David wrote about dancing.  If David danced, we should dance."

 
"David also ran around one day in his underwear praising God and ticking off his wife.  Should I get up next Sunday morning and tell our congregation to strip down because that's what David did?"

 
It didn't work, My arguing skills were worthless. Logic is no match for strong, sincere, ingrained opinions.  So I stole an idea from Gandhi.  At our next communion I announced that I was going to fast until every member of our church agreed to stop judging the way another person worshipped.  The room was deathly silent.  It took a long time to hear the first vocal response.

 
"But, Bob.  What if we never agree? "

 
"Then I'll never eat."

 
"But if you don't eat, you'll die."

 
"Then I'll die.  I'd rather be dead then see my new church torn apart over nothing."

 
Of course I was calling their bluffs, not really expecting to die, only to get their attention, to make them evaluate how important these peripheral little issues really are.

 
You see, this group had wanted to help me start an inter-denominational church.  They loved my ideas about unity in diversity.  That is, they loved them until they realized I was not going to insist that people worship with a certain kind of posture.

 
When I was in college, Christians had a tendency to talk about denominations as if they were four letter words; "We're all Christians, " they smiled with the joy of the Lord.  "So why should we split ourselves up as Methodists, Baptists or Presbyterians?  Can't we all just come together in unity?  After all, it's the cross that binds us together and we all have the same Holy Spirit.   Well, don't we?" 

 
I no longer pay much attention to such comments because I don't believe them for a minute.  Christians (for the most part) are lying when they speak against denominations.  They may not like denominational titles but they love denominations.  I.E. They want a church where everyone believes and acts exactly as they do.  Christians are also lying when they claim to want unity.  What that really means is they want uniformity.  True Biblical unity embraces differences.

 
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men." I Cor 12:4-5

 
Uniformity says, "We can be one only if our appearances and viewpoints are identical."

 
What's illusive is that the "crucial issue" is different for everyone.  This is why most Christians claim to be tolerant only until one of their pet subjects is challenged.  For instance, a person who thought the lifting up of hands was an unimportant and childish controversy may feel differently about women in leadership.  One who doesn't care how another man sings, may care a lot about how another man prays (The variety supplys endless ammunition, standing, sitting, kneeling, eyes open, eyes closed, with tongues, without tongues) Others have built their fortress around Calvinism, baptism, or political issues.  I even know of a Church which won't support missionaries unless they first sign a statement swearing that the rapture will come before the tribulation.  Meanwhile, as we argue about this stuff a whole world out there continues day by day without the love of Christ. 

 
It is time for Christians to stop talking about unity and actually put it into practice.  That will never happen until we step out of our comfort zones.  It means respecting and having fellowship with someone who is different, who disagrees with you.  It means embracing somebody whom you are convinced is wrong.  You may not embrace the idea but you embrace the person.  There is no easier way.  The easy ways are a lot empty talk,  all theory, all great looking on paper, but never truly practiced.

 
By the way:  Those turkeys let me go without food for seven days before they made peace with each other.  Oh well, seven is a spiritual number.  It always has been and I wouldn't fellowship with anyone who felt differently.

All Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE

New International Version  NIV

Copyright  1973, 1979, 1984 by International Bible Society

Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

All rights reserved.

The Bob Siegel Show can be heard every Sunday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM on KCBQ 1170 on the dial or KCBQ.com to listen live over the internet.

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