One Purpose

It seems there are so many things to tear the church apart these days. There are churches that have women pastors and officers. There are others that forbid them. There are Christians of all denominational flavors who are Pro-Choice, and there are others who are staunchly Pro-Life. You will find Christians on both sides of the issue regarding capital punishment. You can find Democrat Christians or Republican Christian. You can even find Tea Party, Independent, Libertarian, and Green Party Christians, just to name a few.

There are Christians who are separated by mode of baptism, theology of communion, stand on gay rights and the place of gays and lesbians in the worshipping community. We separate ourselves by worship styles and views on spiritual gifts. It is fairly easy to see why some people might avoid church. They already have all the turmoil and tension in their life they need!

The Apostle Paul doesn’t seem to recognize any of these divisions. If he does recognize them in other places, here he seems to say there is a higher calling. In fact he centers the Church and its mission on one, clear, concise vision.

“Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

                Philippians 2:2

Paul wants the Church to share one grand and holy purpose – to share the love, compassion, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ with all the world. If we recognize the problem of humanity as first and foremost a poverty of spirituality and a broken relationship with our Creator, then the solution to the problem is obvious. In fact Jesus Christ says there is no other solution, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”

I won’t say the other things don’t matter, but I will say they become much less important once we get our number one priority settled. Once that is set, the other things tend to fall into place. Once that is set, we begin to put all the other issues in their proper priority as well. Once that is set, we realize we can indeed work with someone who believes quite differently on some theological points because we can agree on that point which has the utmost importance.

Pastor Craig