Titus 3: 9
But shun foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law; for they are unprofitable and worthless.
Don’t you love how Paul minces words? This letter is to Titus who is one of the pastors trained by Paul for the work of the Gospel. Paul tells him plainly not to get involved in quarrels over the law because those arguments are worthless.
I believe very strongly that at the end of the day, we are all congregations of one. By that I mean that there may well be no other person on earth who believes exactly the same way you do on every single question of the Bible, doctrine and theology. But . . . who cares? God has called us into unity despite our differences in opinions and Paul teaches us that controversies over these differences are foolish. The word “silly” keeps coming to my mind. Some of you have heard me say this before but I imagine us all getting to heaven, running up the Father and laying our arguments before Him in a demand to know who is right. I can see Him shake His head sympathetically as He tells us we were all wrong.
That image helps me to remember not to judge another. I love to seek answers and I love to delve into the deep things but Paul said another thing that really speaks to this problem of unity or division over the things of God. He wrote, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” (1 Corinthians 2: 2). This is the point of agreement and this is where we should hang our hats. Let there be consensus among us to agree upon that which we agree upon and give one another room to receive further instruction and revelation from God about everything else. You may think I am wrong about something. Okay. We are both learning and growing and how we think today, hopefully, is not exactly how we will think next year. I intend for us all to be more mature and further along in our Christian walk by then.
If one of your friends has a very divergent view from you about something in the Bible, it’s okay. Their theology is not going to send you to hell so don’t worry about it. Pray for God to pour out new revelation upon you both and He will. And here is the kicker, they just may be right. If so, God will teach you when you are ready. Neither being right nor being wrong is a reason for division. Neither gives us license to judge the other person. Moreover, someone else’s beliefs aren’t going to condemn you. Only your beliefs condemn you.
So, relax. Take a chill pill. Resolve to agree on Jesus as Lord and King. Determine to celebrate the life of our beloved. I think you will find that when you do, a lot of that other stuff just isn’t as important anymore.
