Monday, July 09, 2012

Fellow Workers (2 Cor. 1:23-24)

But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
(2 Corinthians 1:23-24, NASB)

At my small group the other night, we were talking about some of the really painful things that happen because of denominational differences. Just because one person worships differently than someone else or practices another ritual or tradition, that other person is somehow wrong.

Contemporary versus traditional.

High church versus low church.

Praise songs versus hymns.

I’m certain all our bickering and nit-picking breaks the heart of our Savior. If we believe in and follow the God of the Bible, some things are foundational: salvation and eternal life come by grace only through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-10); Jesus Himself is the one and only “way, truth, and life” (John 14:6); one day, those who have chosen to follow Christ will spend eternity in heaven (Matthew 19:28; John 14:2).

What kinds of songs I sing (as long as they’re glorifying God) don’t matter. Whether I kneel or stand or sit doesn’t matter. If I worship at a Saturday service or wake early on a Sunday … It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that I’ve committed my life to serve the one true God. What matters is that I choose to live like Christ, to serve Him and others. What matters is what I do for eternity.

Let’s be fellow workers for our Lord, standing firm in faith.

Loving and serving each other. Loving and serving God.

No comments: