Some of the most heated conversations I have listened to or participated in have been about doctrine, not practical issues of living out our faith. Let's be honest - if the church put half the energy into evangelism that it has into the difference between Calvinism and Arminianism we would all be further down the road of advancing God's Kingdom. From my days in seminary to the present I have observed some of the most blatantly unchristian behavior over topics that were clearly Christian. If you will allow me to state the obvious: We really are all on the same side and need to focus on what matters.
The larger a church gets, the more common it is that issues of 'labeling' begin to fade. The very nature of a large church, because it attracts so many people from so many different backgrounds, naturally becomes more accepting of different faith journeys. The large churches that continue to make their 'label' an issue often stop growing, are unhealthy, and some seem to miss a spirit of freedom in Christ.
Knowing the key doctrines and tenets of your faith is important. Simply put, we all need to know what we believe and why. At the end of the day, the basics of the gospel are all that is needed to live the life Christ called us to live. Matters of "Post-Trib, Pre-Trib, and Mid-Trib" don't have a heavy influence on living like Christ on a daily basis!
Organizationally, we all 'get' Matthew 28:19-20. But you must admit that vast amounts of church resources and energies go into things that have nothing to do with the Great Commission. My plea is that we all fight to keep the main thing the main thing.
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The "main thing" is not evangelism.
The main thing is to worship God in Spirit and Truth.
Everything else will flow from proper, biblical, God-centered worship.
Mt. 22:37-39, "And He said to him, " `You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' "This is the great and foremost commandment.
"The second is like it, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
With proper labelling, poison is identified and we do not consume it. ANyone who has tended sheep or cattle knows that these animals are better led than driven. People are much the same. We can lead them into truth, but it can be rather frustrating to drive them.
As I have said before, I am not in love with the name Baptist, but I am in love with what it is supposed to stand for. Leave labels where they belong; medicine bottles and mail.
JD wrote:
The "main thing" is not evangelism. The main thing is to worship God in Spirit and Truth. Everything else will flow from proper, biblical, God-centered worship.
We all should be worshiping God in spirit and in truth every day of our lives. Christ said, "If you love me, feed my sheep." Christ gave the great commission.
Christ said the 2nd greatest commandment was to love your neighbor.
Evangalism is vital to Christianity.
Evangalism is love.
The bible says without love you're just a clanging symbol.