Ecumenical Bluegrass
I was listening to a little bluegrass this morning on Yahoo radio when Bill Clifton came on, with a song entitled You Go to Your Church. The lyrics:
You Go To Your Church
You go to your church and I'll go to mine
But let's walk along together
Our fathers built them side by side
So let's walk along togetherThe road is rough and the way is long
But we'll help each other over
You go to your church and I'll go to mine
But let's walk along togetherYou go to your church and I'll go to mine
But let's walk along together
Our Heavenly Father is the same
So let's walk along togetherThe Lord will be at your church today
But he'll be at my church also
You go to your church and I'll go to mine
But let's walk along together
Now, that's the spirit, Bill! Sometimes us Calvinists get a little too muddled in the details (we call them "distinctions") to realize that there are Christians on their way to heaven that might not agree with us on every point. Yes, we should be diligent to search the scriptures and we should place a high value on truth in our doctrine. But, there are some on the other side of the soteriological aisle that have just as much zeal and fervor for Biblical truth as we do. The Bible is full of things mysterious and difficult. We shouldn't be surprised that genuine, Christ-following Christians might come up with different conclusions than we do.
Where I draw the line, though, is when a person or group throws the authority of Bible out the window completely. "Sure, the Bible says X, but we really believe Y because it makes more sense to us." When you lose the authority of the Bible in your theology, you lose everything. When you've passed this point, evolution, homosexuality, and abortion are just as valid and "right" as creation, one-man-one-woman marriage, and the protection of life at all stages of development.
Jesus prayed for unity among his followers, and we should keep this in mind. But, the Bible is also full of warnings about false teachers and the threat they pose to Christ's church. When we disagree on disputable points of doctrine, but both have biblical support for our positions, then we can walk along together in Christian humility. When we disagree because you are worshipping a god of your own imagination and you are unwilling to submit your theology to the authority of the Bible, that's the point where we need to part company. That's the point that Luther came to back in 1517 when the church in Rome offered indulgences in place of the atonement of Christ. That's the point that we are near (if not past already) with many mainline denominations in the U.S. today that call themselves "Christian." We should love the people in those churches, as Christ does, but we can't throw Truth to the wayside for the sake of ecumenical unity. As Luther said, "Peace if possible, truth at all costs."
RSS 2.0
