Avoiding friction and distraction in the body of Christ

In this world there are some of the religious people who claim to be Christian but spread lies about other Christians and call for and hatred against other Christians.

When one calls oneself Christian that should mean the person wants to be a follower of Christ (Jesus or Jeshua the Nazarene master teacher). Being a Christian should mean that one believes in Christ Jesus the son of God and is prepared to follow his teachings.

The request of a Nazarene

The Nazarene rebbe invited people to follow him and to come to know his heavenly Father, the Only One True God. Jesus wanted his followers to recognise him as the sent one from God who is the way to God. all those who call themselves Christian should know the way to God and should ask others also to follow them on that path to God, which is the path to and of life. They should show others they walk on the path of luck and on the path of happiness and not on a path of jealousy, hatred and envy. The path of God is the only right path we should know is only a narrow path which you shall see is also a safe path to success. Christians should be people who have chosen to walk by faith in the light, walking in integrity on the spiritual path and not to be bounded to worldly goods.

The most fundamental primary rule to call oneself a Christian is to believe that Jesus is the Christ or Kristos (Christus). This means that the person calling himself or herself Christian accept that Jesus is the anointed one of God who brings salvation to the world and is willing to live according to that Gift of salvation. As a Christian it is not enough to believe on his name, beholding his signs which he did. that believe should also entail a change in character and an engagement in following Jesus his teachings. To our regret we must confess we see a lot of people in this world which the Bible would call liars, because they show a totally wrong attitude and do not live up to the requirements of a follower of Christ.

“4 He that saith, I know him (Jeshua, Jesus the Christ), and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: 6 he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked.” (1Jo 2:4-6 ASV)

It is not because you are born in a Christian family that it makes you to be a Christian. Please be aware that Jesus never came onto the earth to create an other religion and never called his followers Christians, nor did the early church call themselves Christians. Instead, people outside the church coined the name “Christian” to describe people who accepted, believed, and followed Jesus. Early believers were called Christians because they believed Jesus’ teachings, they accepted Jesus’ death and resurrection as the payment for sin, and they emulated Jesus in the way they lived. Their gatherings or meeting brought forward that they were considered a group , a unit or a ‘church’.

“ and when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that even for a whole year they were gathered together {1 } with the church, and taught much people, and that the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. {1) Gr in } (Ac 11:26 ASV)

Believing and wanting to be under God

When believing in Christ there should be the hope and even the offering to be willing to go for him (even when one would have to suffer), not being ashamed, being convinced that Jesus is able to guard what we have entrusted to him until that day that he is going to return.

“ For which cause I suffer also these things: yet I am not ashamed; for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard {1 } that which I have committed unto him against that day. {1) Or that which he hath committed unto me; Gr my deposit } (2Ti 1:12 ASV)

Those who call themselves Christian should be people who feel united under Christ, as brethren and sisters in Christ, being one with him like he is one with his heavenly Father, Whom they also accept as their Father. Wanting to be under God, as His children they should want to behave like Children of God and be more noble-minded than those we see enough around us who are from the world. This because Christians or followers of Christ received the Word of God with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so. (Ac 17:10-12)

Preachers against union

It is against that union that several people preach on the net against other groups of believers, be it against trinitarians (like against Catholics) or against non-trinitarians (like against Jehovah’s Witnesses -JW, or against Christadelphians), going so far to tell lies, like saying that the JW do not believe in the son of God or that they teach that Jesus is just a man who became a god, is the Archangel Michael, whilst they like other non-trinitarians just have as their core business to proclaim that Jesus is the son of God.Often they want to believe people that Jesus would not be able to save people when he would not be God, making his act of doing the Will of God instead his own will ridiculous. Some preachers get so false they even dare to make their readers to believe all sorts of nonsense, like for example that the Belgian Bible Students (and even not seeing the differences between the many bible Students and Christadelphians) would follow an American leader who would have formed their community even before that man was born.

Others say

When people say that they don’t need Jesus to go to heaven but can do it by their own goodness, they are indirectly saying that they are God. Only by having faith in Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection can a person be delivered from spiritual death. {The Qualifications That God Says A Person Must Possess To Go To Heaven Without Believing In Jesus}

but do not see themself that Jesus is the way to salvation and the mediator between God and man, because they proclaim that Jesus would be an incarnation of God. They than give the impression that either God does not know everything or that Jesus did not tell the truth when he said he knew certain matters not because it is only given to god to know everything.

Some of those who do everything to react other streams in Christendom and Christianity often contradict themselves by saying

No Divisions Among YOU

them doing everything to create hatred in the body of Christ. though they should know it is important not to create division.

One of the very hateful person against other denominations even manages to write

Let there be no division! That includes among the Baptists, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, and yes, the Biblestudents. I must confess but I didn’t know the Biblestudents had so many divisions along themselves. Yet the Bible says, let there be no divisions among you. None! If the Bible says no divisions, why do all these denominations have divisions? And I mean among themselves? {No Divisions Among YOU}

He himself having crated his own church (The Bible Church), claiming it to be the only right and true church. Naturally we do know that

There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual. {Thomas Jefferson}

Often those telling lies about other religious groups spend more time on trying to spread division than on preaching the Good News. And that is what a real Christian should do. Calling others to the way of life of Christ and telling about the coming Kingdom of God. The few religious groups that go out in the world witnessing about Jehovah are for many a thorn in the eye.

Christian or unchristian attitude

In our previous chapter Living as a believer in Christ and Sayings about Christadelphians and Belgian Biblestudents debounced we spoke already about those name christians (or false christians) who present a totally different Jesus than the one from the Bible and (worse) take on a very unchristian attitude. They clearly show how they do not want to be siblings with other children of God and how they are not transformed by their decision to become a Christian or to have their rebirth. We should remember that being a Christian means to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ and to be as he was in this world, showing his love to all sorts of people. The emphasis here is on doing, and not being hypocritical. Jesus said,

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21.

Here we see that we do not enter the kingdom of God solely on the grounds that Jesus Christ, the ‘Just One’, died for us. Faith in him must also result in doing righteousness in our personal lives. (2 Timothy 2:19,22). As we said

Followers of Christ are called to love their brothers in Christ, with great frequency.

we are very well aware that such love will not always come naturally. At times it will be a distinct challenge. Truthfully, genuine love is almost always a challenge, even for those to whom emotion compels strong affection. It might be very difficult to accept that not everybody is there at the same time on the same level of faith as yourself. For many it seems also to be very difficult that others may need an other way to come to God and that some may find an other religious group in which they can develop to a good worthy Christian. Therefore we should recognise that the many denominations you can find in Christianity are different ways for people to come to reach the same goal. What is most important that every individual comes to finish the race set for him or her.

A race set forward

To make the set race to a good end we should gather together in unity and share our difficult and easy moments giving support to each other. A Jewish wife, Rachel whose been married to Tim since 2005, living 15 miles west of Seattle on the Kitsap Peninsula, who long struggled with her faith, says it so

This is what community feels like. The care and concern, the shared tears, the expressions of condolences and love – it’s not something I’m used to, even having grown up in a religious environment and having belonged to various churches for the majority of my adult life. {The blessings of community}

Lots of people do forget that because some accents are different in the different denominations that does not has to mean they are (totally) wrong.

After the death of Christ by impalement, his disciples continued the work the master teacher taught them, preaching and teaching every one that cares to listen about their rebbe, Christ Whom God Himself declared to be the Son of God, who was sent to atone for the sins of mankind so that they can be saved from sin which is a hindrance from having eternal life after death.

When we look at the different denominations in Christendom and Christianity we can find groups that adopt the son perspective as their focal point of worship whilst others focus more on the Father role. It is not because they believe God the Father is unique, the Almighty, that they would not have respect for what the son has done. It is also not because that they believe Jehovah God is distinct and superior that they would not accept the ransom offering of Christ as their means of salvation.

Because of dis-unity and disagreements with preachers in their groups others went away and started a new church.

Since the reformation period there have been many more schisms to where today we have over 30,000 distinct groupings. Perhaps some of this division was necessary but in the end the Church does constitute mostly of larger unified Church bodies around the world. God is always furthering his Church in the world, we as Disciples of Jesus need to find our place where the traditions and the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3) is being passed on. Some bodies of the Church as wineskins lose its lampstand (Revelation 2:5). We cannot make it alone in this journey, we need each other in the body of Christ. God is still building His Church through imperfect people. {God Is Still Building His Church Through People}

Being all imperfect we should recognise that fact of weakness and should make an effort to be united with each other. Together we should go for the Glory of God in His House (the Church) of which Jesus should be and is the cornerstone. together we should strife to make a glorious temple for God, each in their own region, in their own community.

Oneness

Most trinitarians do not want to know about John 17 which shows us God’s perfect will for the church, because their idea of oneness of Jesus with God meaning he is God would make the followers of Jesus also to become God when they are one with Christ like he is one with his heavenly Father, his and our God. Namely God’s Word tells us to be one, even as Jesus and God are one. We who want to call ourselves Christian should as followers of Jesus be one with him having Jesus in us, but also having God in us, in the same way as God is in Jesus.

“22 And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me.” (Joh 17:22-23 ASV)

The oneness that Jesus is talking about is a oneness wherein we are absolutely subject to the Head which is Christ and not to a worldly organisation. Though each church has to be constructed and has to follow certain rules of a country, the cornerstone always should be Jesus and the most important Law it shall have to follow shall always have to be the Law of Christ which is according to the Law of God. In that Unit under Christ each person is individually responsible for himself or herself and has to do the works of faith. Though we do agree that in Christendom there are lots of groups which claim man has to do nothing any more because he is saved. But please let yourself not be mislead by such teaching.

Each individual who calls himself Christian should be giving himself to Christ and being one with Christ like Jesus is one with God. That oneness with Christ and with God naturally shall not make us to be God (like trinitarians consider such oneness of Christ him being God). It is all concerning oneness in spirit, being on the same line of thinking.

Each Christian should have Christ and his heavenly Father (as a matter of speaking) in him or her.

God in man, dwelling in man, being part of man’s function.

It is that situation of giving yourself to Christ, willing to surrender to his glory and to God’s glory which shall transform our own previous sinful being. Therefore, by giving ourselves to Christ our own Old Self can be changed. When becoming a Christian after baptism the road only starts to bring changes in our way of life, our daily function, our mind operation, even our very feelings shall have to be changed because there is an incorporation of Power of God (the Holy Spirit) inside of the Christian man. All those changes taking place in man should show the difference between a believer and a non believer also doing good.

When we encounter people who are creating division we should wonder if they are really in Christ. If anybody comes to you, and says he is preaching and ‘doing miracles in the name of the Lord’, but he is not creating oneness among the people of God, he is not doing the will of God nor the will of God His only begotten son, Jesus Christ.

When we read the Old and the New testament we shall be able to see God’s request to be brothers and sisters of each other, each working at oneself to be one with God but also one with the other human beings. In the church of God there is no place for division.

“ There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.” (Ga 3:28 ASV)

That oneness in Christ is what every person calling himself Christian should show to the world. We should look at each other as brothers and sisters. All being creatures of the Mighty God we have the Nazarene Jeshua (Jesus) who has given his blood for us. Being in that pact of blood the same ‘Blood’ should flow through each person who calls himself or herself Christian.

Christ not divided

It is not enough to recognise what Jesus has done what he did: putting his own will aside to do the Will of God, and giving his life as a ransom for our sins. Each person calling himself Christian should show to the world he or she is willing to submit to Christ, receiving that Grace of salvation by his ransom offering. Jesus having made it possible for each individual to integrate with him, so they might be a complete person, not lost within themself searching for answers, becoming stronger by the day and becoming closer to the heavenly Father which they accept as their own heavenly Father. Therefore we do have to come to the heavenly Father of Jesus as His children with the same love as Jesus had for all others.

Christ never has been divided into camps. Whoever divides Christ into camps is ignorant of Christ and ignorant of what the Church represents. We can not ignore that already early in the development of the Christian Church there were problems and disputes. Soon there were people who wanted leadership or wanted most of the followers. soon there were people who were not so mindful of the things of God. The Corinthians for example saw the church as any other social group that could be divided into factions to advance people’s individual tastes and preferences. The Corinthians also forgot that Christ alone was impaled for them and in him alone they were baptized. The result is that the attention shifted from Jesus Christ to mere men and useless arguments. This behaviour overshadowed the centrality of the death of Christ and of the power of that sacrificial offer.

Today we can find lots of rivalry between many groups of people who call themselves Christian. Many of them say bad things of the others and even dare to tell lies about the others. clearly we can see that personal preferences and tastes have come to dictate what the Church of Christ should be (according to them). The own personal idea takes overhand and does not want to leave place for some other thoughts.

All over the world we may find rivalry and competition by comparing one minster to another. Everywhere we can find people who look down on another institution. Some go so far as to blame others for being a cult or sect while creating a specific group around their own person that they view as the only true church. They manage to become idolized ministers or pastors to the point where it results in cult of personality. A similar thing was happening in Corinth, where some said, “I am of Paul,” and others said, “I am of Peter.” When this happens, Christ fades from view, and everything becomes about our own human being. The resentment that grows among certain people actually draws them away from the truth and from the solidarity with Christ Jesus.

Real Christians should have an open loving mind and share that love of Christ with those around them, calling others to follow Jesus as the way to God, and not so much wanting them to be followed as the way of a or the church.

Stephen Bilson-Ogoe from Elmina, Ghana, who remained Catholic until March of 2015 but then became convinced that many Catholic doctrines and practices contradicted the Bible and joined a ministry focused on fidelity to the Bible, recognises

The truth is, all these things are childish; they are a complete waste of time, and they distract from Christ and the urgency of preaching His Gospel. Let our focus be on glorifying the Name of Christ, for this alone really matters. {Avoiding Distractions in the Church}

Our call to each one who want to believe or who believes in God is to come to see that Jesus is the way to God and that all who want to follow Christ should act accordingly, becoming as children of God, united as brothers and sisters in Christ.

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Please read also:

Sayings about Christadelphians and Belgian Biblestudents debounced

and

Today’s thought “Clothing yourselves with the right attitude” (May 16)

Today’s thought “Let’s be examples of disciples who spread the word about their Master” (May 17)

Preceding

God’s Self-Revelation

The Greatness of the eternal God

The real God

God as Father

Born of the Father