June 6, 2016 - "Can We Talk?"

Chaplain’s Corner

June 06, 2016

Can We Talk?

Good Morning Patriots!

"Can we talk?" That was a tag line by a famous female comedienne, Joan Rivers. It was her way of finding a common ground with her audience so they could all be on the same page with the dialogue to follow. She was funny, and seemed to be very insightful to the pulse of America when she did her stand-up routine.

I use this as an example to ask you the same thing: "Can we talk?" My point is that in today's age of Social Media, and the attending hype that seems to come with it, we have a nation of people now who seem to take polar opposite sides on everything. There seems to be very little, if any, middle ground. It seems that the idea of "agreeing to disagree" is pretty much an anomaly now.

I bring this up to ask you about where you stand on Christianity. If you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior due to His finished work on the Cross: His sinless death, burial, and resurrection; then you would rightly call yourself a Christian. However, in the Christian community as a whole, we seem to have a very large, worldwide system of various religious names, denominations, teachings, doctrines, beliefs, etc. The question I have to ask you is whether or not you let differences in religious doctrine keep you from fellowship with others who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives?

I think that many of us are very comfortable with where we are in our religious dichotomy. However, how comfortable are we around others who may worship in a different manner than we do? Or those whose doctrines or beliefs seem to clash with our own? Do we accept them or do we reject them? Are they our brothers and sisters? Or do we see them as "outsiders" and people to guard yourself from? To be sure, there are hypocrites and con men in this world today that pervert the Word of God to their own financial benefit. There are those who are "wolves in sheep's clothing." We were warned in the Bible about a coming "Great Apostasy"...

I have studied religion as a whole for years, and I have studied various doctrines of the many different Christian ideologies. I find that it is most important to look for your common beliefs before you differ over others. The one big, defining doctrine of Christianity that cannot be debated is the very basic tenant that is found in the Bible at John 3:16 (KJV)

"16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

The basic tenant of all true Christian denominations is that we must adhere to the basic Bible truth that God's Son, Jesus Christ, was born of a virgin, who was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. This child was born and remained sinless during his life, and when He was of age, He started a ministry to call God's people to Him and accept Him as the "Lamb of God" that would take away the sin of the world, and give fallen mankind a chance for redemption by accepting the blood sacrifice of His death in the flesh on the Cross. His burial and resurrection play an important part, as it is He who stands as our High Priest before a perfect God in the heavens, and pleads our case before God, so that God can see us and deal with us through the covering of that blood sacrifice of the Lamb of God, so that God sees us as wearing robes washed white in the Blood of the Lamb. If we all can agree on the basic idea that we are sinners, saved by Grace, and owe our salvation to the finished work of Jesus Christ, then we can agree that we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now. What about the other things? Where do we stand on things like celebration of birthdays, Christmas, Easter, etc.? Where do we stand on issues like smoking, or other habits that may not be specifically addressed in Scripture? How do you feel about having a choir in Church? Passing the collection plate? How do you feel about gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, prophesying, healing, etc.? How often do you think the Church should take Communion? Which translation of the Bible do you prefer? How do you feel about Heaven and Hell? Where are they? What are they?

I have had the privilege to enjoy worshiping at a variety of services, and I must say, I have finally come to peace with what I feel God was showing me. I have always been somewhat of a "perfectionist" who feels that there is only one right way to feel about anything, or to do anything. I have learned the hard way that I do not have all of the answers. I have found that there can be many different approaches to the same problem. However, I still believe that those approaches still have to include the basic tenants of our common core belief. John 14: 6 - 14 (NIV) says:

6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

So, as long as we agree that Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father, then we can also agree that accepting that fact will make us brothers and sisters, even if we approach him in somewhat different ways. By that I mean, should your Church attire be a three-piece suit and tie, or blue jeans and a work shirt? Should we have a very rigid, structured service, or should we make a "joyful noise unto the Lord?" Is there room for Businessmen and Bikers at the same service? What about people wearing all black clothes and piercings all over their faces? Is there room for "grunge" in God's house?

I have to admit that I have been to services that made me uncomfortable, but did that mean they were wrong? Isn't the basic idea of ministry to bring sinners to God? How can I approach someone who will not listen to me? Maybe I am not the one who should be reaching out to that person. Maybe a hardcore outlaw biker will not listen to a man in a three-piece suit, but the odds are good that he would listen to a fellow biker dressed in black leather and giving a personal testimony of redemption. In the middle of the ghetto, it may be hard for anyone there to take me seriously, but I can tell you from personal experience that they DO respond to people who have been there, done that, and speak the language. People who have drug addictions, sexual addictions, and various other vices in their lives seem to listen better to someone who has walked many miles in their shoes. Having shared experiences and memories makes it easier to relate to someone else, and if they are showing you how God pulled them out of the misery that was their own life, then you are more likely to listen to what they have to say.

The point of this article is to ask yourself how you feel about what others are doing for God, and then ask yourself if you can just agree to disagree on the small things, or if there are legitimate reasons why you feel the need to separate yourself from them. As an example, the whole LGBT movement of late is causing quite a stir in the world, including the Christian community. We say, "Love the sinner, hate the sin." However, there are those in some Christian Churches who have decided to celebrate the sin, and embrace it as good in God's eyes, and as being simply an "alternative" lifestyle. We are starting to see more and more Churches allowing the clergy to come out as Gay and still retain their positions in the Church as clergy. The United Methodist Church is a good example of a large denomination that is literally being torn apart over this very issue.

How you personally feel about these types of things, and how it motivates you in your relationship with God, is really between you and God alone. However, we must all have a clear Christian conscience before our God. Paul talked about how easy it could be to stumble a new child in Christ with the things we do since we have freedom in Christ. We need to be conscious of others as we live our life, and be aware of the message our activities send to others. Just because we have freedom in Christ is no excuse to live a life that would bring dishonor to God. We walk a fine line in this world. Anything we do can and will be used against us in the court of public opinion. When groups like the Westboro Baptist Church go and harass grieving family members at a grave side service for a fallen soldier, all it does is give all Christians a black eye in the eyes of the nation. When a Christian Music recording star comes out as gay, and shows no remorse or repentance, but seeks to be accepted as such, that just gives the rest of us a black eye.

It is best if you ask yourself what you believe, and why you believe it. Be as the Bereans, who were happy to receive Paul's teachings, but still took the time to carefully reference the other scriptures to verify that the teachings all aligned with the basic doctrine they already had and understood. If you have long-standing beliefs that seem to fly in the face of what others around you accept and believe, then you need to determine if you believe it because someone said so, or because you learned it and proved it to yourself through close study of Scripture. Taking a single scripture out of context, it can be interpreted many different ways if you want to. However, all of the most important and basic doctrines of the Bible are spoken of in various places in the Bible, in context, and should be easily understandable.

So, can we talk? Can we enjoy a conversation around love for our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Lord Jesus? Can we encourage one another in the Spirit? Can we lovingly agree to disagree on the minor things if necessary? Can we refrain from judging people, and concentrate on letting God be the Judge of the heart? Can we love the sinner and pray for them, while still hating the sin in their life? These are things to consider, as we get closer and closer to the Day of Judgement, where Jesus will start separating people to His right and to His left... may we all make it to the right side going off into Paradise and eternal life, rather than the left side going off into destruction. Get to know God, examine your relationship with Him, ask yourself what you believe and why... and then stand your ground on your Christian conscience and stand for what is right.

God Bless you, every one, and:
God Bless America!
Stephen King
Chaplin@3upi.com