Let's get over ourselves...

I just heard about a young couple (people I know) who were deeply in love and all set to get married, have kids raise a home. Christians...seriously Christians, the kind of folks you would love to have in your town or your church.....uh-oh! Which church do you mean? Here comes Doctrine.

Its seem that one of the couple was raised in a church that believed there was free will in the matter of how we come to salvation...the other was raised believing that there was no choice that one has to be elected or pre-chosen by God. Both love Jesus (and Jesus loves them), both resist sin in their lives both are born again but they called off their marriage because of Doctrine! Let's look at the doctrines of free will versus election.

This has been a burning argument dividing the Church for hundreds of years. Believers have actually been burned at the stake because of their take on one side of this question or the other. Who knows the Truth of the matter? NO ONE! Say it again. Yet it won't be long before I will be receiving rancorous remarks from by Christian brothers and sisters relating long treatises on their pet doctrine. Get over yourselves. This is God's business and his alone.

A wise (non denominational) pastor friend of mine recently stated that doctrine was a way that men can draw circles around themselves with which they can exclude others. Yet Christ desires that "all men (mankind) be saved". So while he is INCLUDING, we are excluding.

Remember that this doctrinal mess is fighting between believers! Examine your hearts. Are you camping out on foundational truth such as, "you must be born again..." or are we fighting amongst each other over such mysteries as predestination? Let's just try and get back to the basics, Christ and Christ alone...