Tonight my husband and i had a discussion with some of my family, i was absolutly disgusted with the way some of them responded. We were having friendly debate about the tribulation, and weather or not christians will go through it. Somewhere along the line the conversation turned the security of our salvation. What happened next was shocking to me. Some of my own family turned against us because we believed differently to them. One family member in particular stormed out of the house in a rage, furious because of our opinion. It happened so fast, we didn't even know he was angry until he stormed out yelling at us.
As far as i'm concerned, if you believe and accept that Jesus Christ, Gods son, came to earth, died for our sins, and rose again, nothing else REALLY matters. Churches are divided so unnecissarily.
My opinion is this: Churches are not divided because some of our beliefs differ. We are divided because of our self righteous judgemental attitudes toward other believers.
At the same time, we cannot compromise our faith, but we most certainly should not attack christians who have slightly different beliefs.
What do you think?
Tray.
Difference of opinion?
Discussion in '2005 Archive' started by Tray, Mar 26, 2005.
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Not everyone who claims to be a believer is a genuine believer.
Mt. 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord ,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord , did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'
Remember Paul and Mark and a few others who had difficult relationships.
We do need difficult people in our lives. It teaches us to forgive and trust God. They keep us praying and teach us to watch our words.
As you read scripture there are plenty of example of believers who had bad relationships. Joesph and his own brothers. Moses who killed a man. Judas and Jesus. Peter who cut off a man's ear. -
It happens so frequently in religous matters that one must conclude something fundamental about the way the brain is wired may be involved. In particular, the two different ways of forming one's opinions - via tradition or via deduction - seem to be cognitively incompatible at least in many people, so that trying to put the two together causes them mental pain, and they react explosively.
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Joseph Botwinick -
I wonder what that other family member would say to you if they knew you were airing their dirty laundry on the internet for all to see. -
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its in the bible that u can't loose ur salvation if you have sincerly accepted it. If i were u I would go to that family member and ask him what was wrong cause maby somthing was eating at them and ur opinion just broke the camels back.
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Just to clear the air a bit. I love my family very much and have a good relationship with all of them. My intention in my post was not to tell a one-sided story or air their dirty laundry for all to see. Nor was it to make them look bad while i look like a saint. I apologise for it seeming otherwise. What I was trying to say is that there is so much division in churches because of attitudes of judgement and condemnation. Admittedly, i was a little steamed up when i submitted that post, again i apologise for comming across as a tattle tale. I just feel christians should be able to discuss their conflicting views peacefully and honestly without being condemned for it. Sadly, this isn't the case and probably never will be.
Tray. -
Tray,
I have 3 brothers, two sisters and my mom. I was the first saved and presented the gospel to the rest. Within 6 years all but one brother got saved. We all belonged to different IFB churches. Good churches. But do you think we could 100% agree on everything? No way! The autonomy of the church makes for inconsistancies in teaching. We all may agree on the basics but beyond that can be tough.
Families are the hardest to deal with on this subject. No one wants to admit they are wrong. -
I was taught, that 'If I live inside the environment of God, the opinion of men matters not to me.'
;)