HOW DO YOU SEE IT?

John 7:22-24   For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

From this passage and others we can see that Jesus was often at odds with the religious experts of His time about what God valued and what the Law really called for.  In our current Christian culture there are many who claim faith in Christ, but who reject the church and many of its teachings.  Could it be that the legalism and traditionalism of past decades in much of American Christianity has spurred the reaction of casting off all restraints of historic evangelical teaching and culture? 

Why might this be?  Whenever Bible passages are construed to refer to present situations which did not even in exist when the Bible was written, and the situations are not parallel, the credibility and authority of people teaching such things is reduced on all subjects.  Examples include teachings about the role of women in the church, hair length, jewelry, make-up, the essence of “modesty”, consumption of alcohol, aspects of sexuality, and even music styles.  Then add in conflicting dogmatic assertions about end-time Bible prophecy, spiritual gifts, worship styles, what is “proper” preaching, and a seemingly endless list of other doctrinal or practical sacred cows, and it’s not hard to see why some people want to chuck the whole “organized” church thing and just keep it simple with Jesus and the parts of the Bible they think they understand.   

While that’s very understandable and I could want to jump right into the middle of that crowd, some very clear unmistakable teachings of Jesus do not give us that option.  Surely the Lord knew that such conflicts would occur among His followers, yet He prayed that we might be “one” even as He and His Father are One. (See John 17, 1 Corinthians 1, Psalm 133, and countless other passages) It seems He intended that His Spirit in us would take the sandpaper of our differences and smooth us all into unique but unified parts of His Body that would work together and defer to the Head, maximizing the value of our distinctives rather than letting them divide us.

John 17:20-23 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;  I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

It is as we seek the Lord together and share our various and sometimes opposing viewpoints in love that we are all challenged and enriched—and also sometimes frustrated.  Ultimately, God is able to work in us all toward more Christ-like character and a clearer understanding and adoption of what His will truly is.  (See Ephesians 5:11-16)