Good friends, and unity within the Church (with a capital C)

          Greater Love has no one than this: That a man lay down his life for his friends-John 15:13

You know that you have good friends when they come from across town to help you jump start your car. Because you left your lights on...all night...for the fifth time...

Yet still they come to bail you out, my "knights in t-shirts" as these ladies call themselves. A fitting title I would say.

Trivial to them, as I would find out, but a huge blessing to me.

Which, as I was driving around, charging up the battery to my newly running vehicle, brought me to this question: 

Is there a time in life when one does not need good friends? I can say with certainty...no.

In fact, as Christians, I would say we are called to have good friends, to have community which we can turn to, to help each other out, to build each other up, and to work together as the body of Christ.

This, as it turns out, is what we discussed in Bible study tonight.

--Side note about this bible study: It is one of the best I have been a part of, mainly because all of us are from different Protestant denominations, have somewhat different doctrines, yet there is so much we can agree on. Now if only we had a Catholic or two in our group....But I'm get ahead of myself--

Isn't it great when the Lord uses our circumstances to illustrate a point he was trying to make?

The insights I gained from Bible study tonight:

We, as humans, are designed for community, and as Christians, a community of believers. All of us have different gifts and abilities which play off of each other. Romans 12:5 calls us "one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." (ESV)  

Why then, must we divide ourselves within the body of Christ? How can we, as Christians, of any denomination, Protestant, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, or any others, forget to work together, forget that we serve the same God? 

How can we, as the Church (with a capital C, meaning the whole body of believers) possibly hope to let the Lord change the world through us if we cannot, at the very least, momentarily put aside our differences in doctrine, theology, or even the color of the (little c: the building) church carpet, and seek the Lord's goodness?

As I mulled over these things on the way home, I wanted to jump straight into my newly minted blog to write about it. 

But the Lord stopped me as I opened my computer, and a thought popped into my head.

Read your bible first

So, after a brief struggle of will, in which I finally decided He was right (as per usual), I opened my bible and began to read, and this passage popped out at me:

     First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for ALL people...This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 2:1-5 (emphasis mine)

The Lord doesn't want certain types of peoples, or certain denominations and groups of people to get to know him. The Lord wants ALL people to know him, and to be saved by Him. We, as the Church should want that as well. If we were to work together, seeking the Lord and spreading His Love, instead of seeking to be right, how could the Lord use us even more? 

Don't get me wrong, doctrine and theology are important, and should not be taken lightly. To throw theology out the window would be a grave and very hurtful mistake, for theology shapes our understanding of who God is.

 However, as we zoom out and look at the big picture of God working through the Church, the question remains: How much more effective would the Church be, if we remembered that we are ALL brothers and sisters in Christ, not just the people who go to our church?

Something to consider,

Hanna Elizabeth