Devotion - Monday, November 15

For a long time I had attributed a saying to Martin Luther. Recently, someone more learned than I gave credit to fellow reformer Philip Melanchthon. It goes like this: If you are going to quote a verse of scripture in support of your belief, make sure you have two additional verses in mind - one which supports the first and one which challenges it.

For the entire fall, our Sunday morning Bible Study has been looking at I Corinthians. Paul is very concerned about their lack of unity. He sees their disunity as an indication that they are truly following God's Word. I have become very fond of pointing this out, as I encourage fellow followers to strive for harmony.

This morning I read the appointed Gospel lesson. It is from Luke 12:49-59. Here, Jesus says "Do you think I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division."

These verses, considered together, reinforce the discussion at our Sunday morning study. We are to be unified as God's people, as unified as possible. But there are some issues and some teachings which should not and cannot be compromised. When necessary, we stand over against those who hold unacceptable convictions. Division happens.

The challenge is determining when this is appropriate.

I am a strong believer that Christmas Carols should be sung at Christmas - NOT IN ADVENT! But surely this is not sufficient to divide the Church. I believe in baptism of infants, but I am not going to tell those who practice a believer's baptism that they are not followers of Christ. There are some congregations in which women are not allowed to take positions of leadership. Here, I start to stand a bit more firm. Even so, I make it my aim not to say they are "wrong," and "no longer part of Jesus' followers." They have arrived at a different understanding, and I would like to talk with them more so that their thoughts and mine might find a meeting place.

There are two points in today's offering: First, is to acknowledge that scripture does contain verses which nudge us in different directions. Remembering this will prevent us from being so dogmatic in our beliefs. Second, there are issues which divide us which deserve a more dogmatic stance. Sometimes, we need to speak clearly to that which separates us. It may be splitting hairs; it might be acknowledging an important distinction in what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

And, yes, that last phrase is intentional - we are all FOLLOWERS of Jesus. Some follow more closely, some straggle behind a bit, some try to influence the direction of our movement more than others. But, remembering that being a Christian means we have decided to "follow Jesus," helps us see others as followers, too.