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Posts Tagged ‘path’

We All See Things Differently

Posted in Acceptance of Others, Bible, christian living, Jesus follower, Love of God, tagged , , , , , , , on May 22, 2026|

by Michael Donahoe

I find it interesting that no matter what a person believes, someone always has a completely opposite view. We get excited about hearing some truth that really connects, and the next thing we read is an article by another person with a completely different view that completely disagrees with what we just heard. 

Even more than that, most of us Christians get mad when someone disagrees with us and our personal ideas. We get on Facebook and make ourselves look crazy because we talk about brotherly love, then we fight and argue with someone because they interpret things differently, and mostly about things we cannot prove one way or the other.

Sadly, this is really not that unusual because we are all different. We have different backgrounds, different viewpoints and opinions, and different ideas on how to live. We really have to stop and think that whatever it is we believe, whatever our interpretation, we have to realize that not everyone will agree with us. There is no reason for us to get mad at someone else for being different. There is no reason why we cannot accept each other even in our differences. 

This life is all a matter of faith. No matter what it is spiritually speaking, no one can really prove what is right and what is not. Just because someone has a different interpretation does not mean they are right or wrong. 

We need to keep our ears open to the leading of the Spirit and follow our own path looking to Jesus. That does not mean any and every path is the right one, but we cannot be the judge of who is right and who is wrong. Jeremy Myers, in his book ‘Dying to Religion and Empire’ states, “The beautiful thing about following Jesus is that while He leads us all in the same direction, there are millions of different paths He can take to get us there. His goal, of course, is to advance the Kingdom of God on earth through the people of God who are being conformed into the image of God”. Our goal is to follow Christ as he leads us individually, and then be ready to love all people, no matter if they are on the same path or not. 

Let’s stop arguing, fighting and demanding that everyone agree with us, and love and accept those we meet along the journey. I think God is big enough to lead us along our path while being loving, kind and accepting to those walking their path. After all, we are all just walking each other home. 

Michael Donahoe created Done with Religion after he and his wife left the institutional church after over fifty years within the system. He wanted a way to express his thoughts and concerns about the religious system, and tell why he and his wife decided to leave the institution but not their faith in God. They have now been outside the walls of religion for over fifteen years. He enjoys writing about his experiences and thoughts, and he wants to encourage others who are going through the religious deconstruction process. He also writes on Substack at https://deconstructiontrail.substack.com/ and https://personalmeanderings.substack.com/ Michael can be contacted by email at: jimgordon731@gmail.com

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Different Paths, Same Leader

Posted in christian living, tagged , , , , , on October 10, 2013| 2 Comments »

After being in the organized church for well over 50 years, and seeing all the different denominations, beliefs, interpretations etc., one thing makes me sad. That one major thing is to see so many followers of Christ fight and argue over the different paths we take in our christian walk.

Now that isn’t saying the all roads lead to God, but while trusting in God and following Christ, we are going to take many different paths during our life here on earth. They are going to be different from other followers of Christ, but we are following the same Christ.

Those of us outside the institutional church should not divide and separate ourselves into the ‘in church’ and ‘out of church’ groups. In the same manner, those who are part of the modern day church should not look down on and separate from those outside the institution. We need to accept that we both love God and are following Christ along the path he has for us.

I think this is what working out our salvation means. Not that we have to work to earn our salvation, but we continually learn as we follow Christ in our salvation. We, as Christ followers, will take different paths in our walk with God. We shouldn’t expect everyone to walk the same path.

And I hear those of you who even want to argue over the phrase ‘Christ follower’. I’ve had people correct me for using that phrase. By using it I mean Christ is living within each of us, and we walk with him and let him live through us. We are following along with him and not out doing our own thing.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to love one another, encourage and build up one another. We aren’t to be continually expecting everyone to act like us and walk in the same way we do.

We are to be accepting, loving and kind to all we have contact with each day, and especially to those who are fellow believers. It seems we are more concerned about acting and believing the exact same things, and when we don’t, we want to fight, argue and separate ourselves rather than accept that God works in each of us in different ways. He made each of us differently, and he leads us along different paths as we walk toward a common destination.

Rather than expect everyone to be just like us, let’s start loving one another the way Christ loved people while he walked the earth. Let’s not let different interpretations and ways of walking with God be a stumbling block to a loving fellowship with one another.

Besides, we aren’t going to lead anyone to a relationship with Christ when all they see is arguing and disagreements among brothers. We aren’t going to draw people insisting they conform to our way of thinking and following our rules and interpretations. The only way people will know we have something worth checking out, is when they see brothers and sisters in Christ loving one another, caring for one another and building each other up.

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