Monday, August 03, 2009

finger pointing

I'm glad to be part of a fellowship/church in which there is no finger pointing. It's not to say there are absolutely no cliques there (though it's easy to break into and become a part of any group there, actually). While at the same time sin, and God's grace are both taken quite seriously.

What I mean by finger pointing is the tendency to judge others either on their practice or doctrine. This tendency is not exclusive to any one group, though in some groups it seems to be more open, as a part of who they are, and pronounced.

What I find in Scripture in Jesus is a desire to take others in, realizing that each is on their own separate spiritual journey, but can do better if they are received and included, so that God can use the lives and testimonies of others to help them, even as their own life and testimony helps the others.

What does this bring to mind, which you'd like to share here?

2 comments:

L.L. Barkat said...

Our own separate journeys, yes. And yet together. Perhaps this is where the difficulty sometimes arises...

Ted M. Gossard said...

L.L.,
Thanks.

Surely this is where some of God's most serious work is meant to take place. Seems so when one considers the place community has in Paul's letters and in the New Testament. But it isn't easy, for sure.