Why is it that we Christians can’t seem to accept one another?
My wife and I grew up in the organized church, and we have many friends who are part of the four-wall system. Yet, after many years of feeling uneasy, questioning, thinking there has to be more than just sitting in a pre-planned service every week, we decided to look for fellowship elsewhere. We feel sitting in a service every week, listening to someone else tell us what they think God is saying is really not very biblical.
The Bible talks about the priesthood of ALL believers. 1 Peter 2:5, 9. It talks about when we assemble, each one has something to say. 1 Corinthians 14:26. We say we are going to the Lord’s house, yet the Bible says we are the temple of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 6:19.
Truthfully, how much fellowship do you get sitting in a service, looking at the back of someone’s head? The most fellowship I remember in a situation like that was when the pastor told us to get up and shake somebody’s hand. I don’t call that fellowship.
We are finding more fellowship outside the walls of organized church when we meet with other Christians during the week. We meet in houses, cafes and restaurants. We talk about what God is doing and what grace means to us. We are getting to know one another, we pray for one another and care about each other. Open discussion makes more sense to us rather than just sitting, listening to one person talk.
People say by not going to church, we are disobeying the Bible where it says to not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. We always ask where it says that it has to be in a particular place on a particular day in an organized service. It doesn’t say that, and meeting anytime two or three come together, talking, praying, enjoying each other is a more meaningful assembly to us.
I say all of this to ask this question, why can’t we accept each other at the place we are currently in our walk with God. It doesn’t make a difference if you go to church or not, if you think of Sunday is a holy day or not. It’s OK to think of every day as the Lord’s day and not just Sunday, or to realize church isn’t a building you go to but a people, saved by grace, living their lives for God daily.
If we could realize God is working in each of us in different ways. We are at different stages in our walk with Him. We all aren’t going to be the same. Let’s accept each other and not try to force our way of thinking on everyone else.
God is our focus. Loving Him and loving each other is what we are commanded to do under the New Covenant. Other than that, we should let our way of doing things be just that…our way. We should not expect everyone to agree with us.
None of us have it all figured out. None of us are right on everything. Many interpretations and ideas in the Bible will never be known this side of heaven, yet we get mad at other Christians when they see things differently. Let’s just accept each other in the love of Christ, realizing that He is in control and He will lead us into His truth in His timing. It isn’t our job to force others to see things our way. It is our job to love each other, accept each other and pray for one another. God will do the rest.
Done with Religion 
Well said. Thank you for posting.
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Amen. Well said. Perhaps all of these theoretical interpretations of right and wrong divest us of Truth. For me, it’s not about the way we are, but who we are. I imagine our self-perceptions make it difficult to see that Truth, or how deeply we are Loved.
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For sure, we should be encouraging others into love and good deeds, not condemning, gossiping and tearing others down. Thanks for the comment.
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You know…I have been thinking differently about that Hebrews 10:24 since I was reminded that their context was one of persecution and they were being encouraged not to give in to fear that isolates. It’s not talking about church attendance…. ;)
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So true. Where is the priesthood of ALL believers in the typical church today? Where is true fellowship in the church today, especially when there are hundreds and thousands of people attending…. Thanks for commenting.
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One thing that bothers me about the typical church is the hierarchy; the leaders place is not to tell us what to believe and how to behave. And I agree with you about fellowship. Sometimes a good service is a rewarding experience even in a large church, but fellowship is relationship and a church service is not enough for relationship.
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Thanks Michael, I appreciate your thoughts. I know we all aren’t going to agree, but we should be able to love and accept our brothers and sisters in Christ. Thanks for reading, and for posting a comment. I appreciate it. Also, thanks for the link to the article. I enjoyed it.
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D.W. R., I appreciate your words, here. It was like Rodney King’s appeal during the riots in L. A.,, “Why can’t we all just get along?” Good question. I would seen that our “get along” is broke! Christians tend to come together, but not for the better, but for the worse, just as Paul said. We tend to get right down to finding our where our differences are instead of focusing on our commonalty from abiding IN Christ.
As for “assembling together,” I have pondered this verse in Hebrews a lot. Here is what I concluded:
http://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/just-who-is-really-forsaking-the-assembling/
Your brother and friend,
Michael
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Thanks John. I know what you mean, it’s always encouraging to know others feel the same way about something. We are to love and accept each other, but sometimes that is hard. It takes the love of Christ living in us to be able to fulfill that. Thanks for commenting.
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Thanks for your comment. Yes, loving God and one another is the goal. Doesn’t mean we have to agree with everyone, but still should be loving and kind to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Thanks for reading my article.
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Completely agree with your post, it is nice to read in print, these thoughts that constantly are going through my head . I have so often felt this same way. And try now to live it out, tough as it is. Thanks for the encouragement. It will be interesting to see how Jesus can bring all his bride together one day. It will certainly take Him performing many miracles in many lives. I look forward to the day. JM.
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“It is our job to love each other, accept each other and pray for one another. God will do the rest.”
Imagine how wonderful things could be if we focussed on loving each other – and trusted God to be big enough for the rest!
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Thank you. I appreciate the encouragement.
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Great post! I Corinthians is jammed packed with this starting in chapter 1
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