Day #10  “One Another” December 10, 2017

“Can’t we all just get along?”

 Is there anyone in your life with whom you disagree?  Yeah, me too!

 We all disagree with everyone in our life about some things. I’ve yet to find a kindred spirit with whom I have absolutely NO disagreements.

 At one time in my life I became friends with a very well-respected, highly visible nationally acclaimed author/pastor/leader.  I read all his books, watched all his videos, went to his conferences and got to hang out with him.  I was mesmerized by him. It was amazing to me how much we thought alike!

 Then one day it happened! He publically…and in no certain terms…expressed his disdain for jazz music and his love for all things Country & Western.  Now I like C&W…but I love jazz! And to find out that this friend had no use for it—well, we just didn’t agree.

 You may be wondering why I even bring that little story up.  It’s because of this “one-another” teaching from the bible:

    “Agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Cor. 1: 10)

 What does this mean???

 In our circle of friends, most of us have liberals/conservatives, Republicans/Democrats, Big Govt/Small Govt proponents, Pro Business/Anti Business folks, Pro Immigration/Anti immigration people, Vegans/red meat lovers, atheists/religious fanatics.

 So…how can we possibly “Agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought?”

 In regard to the list of opposites above, I don’t think we can agree with one another. And I don’t think that’s what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Corinthians 2,000 years ago.

 He started out that beginning passage of his letter to people who were involved in different religious factions – who each thought their group was better than the others – he started out by telling them they were ALL already sanctified, they already had God’s grace and peace, and that by His grace, He had enriched them in every way!

 After addressing the different leaders and groups that they were following and the beliefs that some were better than others, he concluded the chapter by stating that all He preaches is “Christ Crucified” (meaning that Christ’s finished work at the cross covered and provided everything for us in our relationship with God).

 Then to really nail things down, he made this astounding proclamation: 1 Cor 1:30-31  But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

 He makes it very clear that they understand how simple and full of inclusion the Gospel is by stating that everything we have is from Jesus. He became our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and redemption. It didn’t come from anything we did, anything we believed, any group or leader we followed…it’s all from Jesus and everyone is included.

 I think what he means by “Agree with one another so there may be no divisions…” means that we all agree that Jesus’s finished work included everything for everyone. It’s all Jesus!!!  When we agree with what God says about that (“confess”), then we’re able to benefit from it, experience and enjoy it.

 We’re all in the same boat, the Good Ship Jesus.  Let’s agree on that…then we’re free to worship how we want, baptize how we want, fellowship how we want, vote for who we want, root for who we want, etc.,…as long as we do it all in love and love one another as Christ loves us!     ~Paul Gray