There is no other name but Jesus whereby we must be saved. Welcome to my blog: In Him Only. I hope you will be encouraged by what you read.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Will it Ever Happen?


For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren . . . that there are quarrels among you . . . that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:11-13)

During the forty years –
has it really been forty years?  --
since I turned my life
over to Christ,
my wife and I have attended
numerous churches.
 
Baptist.
Pentecostal.
Nazarene.
Episcopal.
Presbyterian.
Anglican . . . .
 
And now,
Catholic.
 
And in each church,
there were those
who with great enthusiasm
told me how glad they were
to be Baptist.
Or Pentecostal.
Or Nazarene.
Or Anglican.
Or Catholic . . . .
 
And I always wondered,
as I still wonder,
why some seemed so determined
to make their point
about their church,
instead of saying
how glad they were
to be a Christian.
A child of God.
A member of Christ.
 
The labels
of course
highlight our differences.
“Christian” highlights
our same-ness.
 
But I realize the reason
for the division.
 
Satan knows
as well as Jesus knows,
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
 
So no wonder,
as happened to the Christians at Corinth,
where some boasted being “of Paul,”
some “of Apollos”
others of “Cephas”
Satan sustains the divisions
to this day.
For he knows
if we focus on our same-ness
and not our group-ness,
his work in our world
would collapse.
 
Will it ever happen
that the world for whom Christ died
will recognize Christians
by their love
one for another?
 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said, Rich. I've been away from blogging for a while but happy to see that you are still here imparting your wisdom. Well said!

Rich Maffeo said...

Thanks, Andie. Hope your hiatus from blogging is not because of health or other bad things.

rich