Unity

My friends and I have recently finished teaching a Streams 101 Starter School in a beautiful little town called Goldendale. Smallish town, somewhat isolated and so peaceful. I taught three units this time and in two of them a major theme is unity among the brethren. As I mentioned my last blog I am becoming somewhat obsessed with this idea of unity in the church.
I grew up in a mainstream denomination that, during the 60's and 70's when I was growing up (yes, I am that old Emily ) was wrestling with the idea that God might even be dead. Well, the academics in the seminaries and the "upper tier" leadership were wrestling with it. My mom & dad and our small-town church had no such doubts. There was, I am afraid, a distinct lack of bible training in my Sunday school experience, especially after grade school and almost none when I got high school youth group.
After a relatively brief, but intense period as a hedonist (post high school) I started seeking a relationship with God. I found a bible study that promised to open my understanding of Revelations to me, which excited me. It turned out to be a recruiting tactic for a group of believers who, well, let's just say I couldn't support many of their more emphatic belief structures and let it go at that. Many of the people I met had, I imagine still have, a genuine love for Jesus, so I am not willing to judge them. I just couldn't buy in to the movement so I moved on...to nothing. At least not for a while.
Eventually I found this cool little church just down the street from the rental my new bride and I were living in. They had just hired a new pastor and were so excited to have reached 100 people attending a couple of weeks in a row. Yep, a small church in a cinder block building, much like the one I grew up in. This church however, centered everything they did on the bible. Learning to live every day by the Word of God. That was what their sign said, and it was true. What a great bunch of sincere God-loving, people. This was no fire breathing, get-saved-or-die-tomorrow church. These folks were warm, loving, and it was a place of healing and growth for us. My wife became a Christian shortly after we started attending and life was very, very good.
The church grew. And grew. We built a new sanctuary, converting the offices to Sunday School rooms and offices. We built additional square footage for Sunday School space and almost by the time it was built, we had outgrown our "new" building. So we rented a nearby school auditorium. Adults met for two services there, while the kids took over the entire facility - and it grew.
Eventually the green light was given to begin building a huge (by our community's standards, anyway) new church. And a funny thing happened. During that building project, my eyes were opened to a realm of Christianity I hadn't known existed. Through a series of events one could only say were God-directed (for they are too strange and convoluted to be of human invention) I became aware that the little voice in my head that I had heretofore called intuition might just be God speaking to me.
Now THAT freaked me out, as it may be freaking some of my friends from that church out, but hang in there for a bit while I explain. You see, I began to experience a new intensity when I prayed. When I really listened to that voice while praying for people, words would spill from my mouth that directly addressed a situation or issue in that person's life with such accuracy that they often have a physical and/or emotional reaction. What was strange to me is that there was absolutely no way I could have known about that situation or issue in the natural course of events. It was uncanny..and yet it brought emotional healing, comfort and/or encouragement, so I am sure it was God. The fruit was good (see Matthew 7:17-19).
And that led to my leaving that wonderful church. I still love that church, but it didn't support my newfound experience. The leaders subscribed to something called dispensational theology. I wasn't really sure what that was, nor am I entirely sure I understand it now (I plan to make a study of it in the upcoming weeks or months), but I do know that all of sudden I didn't fit into their mold. I was something of a freak. No one was rude about it. You must understand, I was not treated badly. People just weren't sure what to do with me. My definition of what God does and will do had changed into something that didn't fit. Theologically correct or not, I knew what I was experiencing was real and it was God. I had to go. Fortunately, I was called to go to someplace rather than just leave someplace.
I was called to help plant a new church, Desert Rock Fellowship. We were modeling this new church to be an independent, evangelical, charismatic church. We were inspired by a book called The Word and Power Church by Douglas Bannister. This was the pastor of a large evangelical church who had to deal with a supernatural experience in God, and how he lead this large church into an acceptance, no, an embrace of the flow of God's Spirit in their church. It fit who our core group of pioneers were, mostly ex-Baptists who had experienced too many of the supernatural aspects of God to accept the conventional wisdom that the spiritual gifts died with the last apostle.
And now, through circumstances beyond my control, I find myself in another small church, the Three Rivers Bridge Christian Fellowship (and it's only that short because they ran out of relevant adjectives ). As you might guess we simply call it The Bridge, not to be mistaken for the local tavern of the same name. :) I find myself pursuing certification to teach courses from a ministry founded in the prophetic, learning to interpret dreams by the Spirit of God, and then taking that experience to the street to give the lost a "God touch" of love and encouragement, and guess what. It's awesome!
It's more than a little strange sometimes, but always strange in ways that bring us closer to Jesus. Creativity has been released in new ways and is actively sought out. New paintings, sketches, dances, sculptures, songs, and yes...blogs have found life because of this enthusiastic embrace of the creative spirit of our Creator!
So how does all that relate to unity? Simple. I've come to understand that many in the body of Christ take great delight in trashing the reputations and doctrine of those with whom they disagree. The internet abounds with with I call "Gatekeeper" websites, inviting anyone and everyone to participate in the public denunciation of any doctrine with which the orthodoxy had declared unsound. I've read books that trash the Charismatic movement because of emotional excesses that left out solid doctrine. Guess what. That happened, unfortunately. And guess what else. God is a God of GRACE. He forgives. He loves. He corrects first in gentleness and only when we willfully, stubbornly refuse to change does he correct us more sternly. In many case, by withholding a measure of His protection around us, allowing us to suffer the natural consequences of our foolishness.
My plea is this. Brothers and sisters, whether you believe in the current operation of the Spiritual gifts or not...LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Stop the backbiting, snide, mean-spirited criticism of your fellow Christians. Just stop it. Take your complaint with your brother's doctrine to the Judge and let Him sort it out. Do you not believe that God is big enough and sovereign enough to correct His church? If not, your God is too small. The truth is that He is more than big enough to correct those who are out of line. Let Him do it. Let's concentrate on fulfilling Jesus command to love one another so that the world might know we are His. Wouldn't all that energy be better spent on loving and winning the lost?
Think about it. Search the Scriptures. I think you'll find that the keepers of doctrine were more often than not the Pharisees, who missed the whole truth of who Jesus was because they were so busy jealously guarding the word, when the Word, stood before them in the flesh.