I was reading Julies blog about denominations a while back. I totally know and agree with what you say/mean about denominations. That's why I've always nurtured my friendships inside and out of my "church family". They just happen to be who I worship with, but life is day to day. We need to exude our faith and, well, that's what I try to do. That way I have a network of believer friends wherever I go...hopefully. It all started with me growing up in and Episcopal church in NY. When I came to Shepherd and joined the Christian fellowship there, they were a bite freaked out to take me to a contemporary church of worship. I didn't get it. The two Episcopal church's I attended with my family were both going through "renewal" so it seemed normal to me to sing those contemporary songs along with the hymns. (Keep in mind this was the late 80's. Yeah, it's that many years later, I can't believe it either.) The third year of my college career, InterVarsity began to go through a change like many church's. The campus Christian fellowship split into two. During that year I'd experienced both sides. One extreme said I wasn't saved because I didn't speak in tongues when I prayed. They extreme opposite was no faith at all, so it was a challenge to sift through all this to find my true faith.
Through all this I was full of compassion for my siblings in Christ and for those who didn't know Christ. But I became so dependent on them, that when I was thrust home after the end of a school year I floundered and fell away from the Lord. That began my season away from God. In our Jr High class at church last night Tina said that by age 22, 1 out of 10 teenagers who attend church will be the only one still attending. I said I was at age 22...well I wasn't. I was still in the middle of my mess. I did come back obviously. It began by coming back to Covenant, then Battlefield Bible Church in Sharpsburg, Maryland. That's where I was baptized and rededicated my life to the Lord. The long and short of it is: we are all the body of Christ. Denomination won't matter in heaven. Let's live by loving each other here. More might believe if we just treated each other better.
This denomination thing is a big hurtle for us to get over in youth ministry. How do we get other churches involved and on fire with what God is doing. I guess the best and only hope is prayer. So when we invite them, they will be touched by what the Holy Spirit is doing and will get involved. It's not about us anyway. It's about Jesus our savior.... (sigh....awe...amen.)
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2 comments:
i agree with you. i wish more people were able to get over the boundaries of denominations and acknowledge the unity in Christ. One denomination is no better than another; the fact is, there are a variety of churches reflecting the diversity within the human race. No church is perfect. No human is perfect. Christ unifies the body.
I agree with you and girl with a flower tatoo.
It would be so nice if we could look past denominations and the exterior of people. I noticed this summer when we took the kids to Purple Door some were completely shocked at the appearance of some of the others there. I wanted to shake them and shout were not created from cookie cutters and be thankful that Christians come in such a variety.
God reaches us where ever we are..sadly we tend to stay on the shore and not take the boat as Jesus did and cross to the other side to reach others.
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