Note* I started working on a book about the need for Jesus-followers to start with grace and not judgment or quarreling. I got discouraged by a lack of interested and put it to the side. However, I still believe it is important, so I will begin publishing part of what I have written to paid subscribers for feedback and accountability.
What do you do when you are caught between opposing needs for grace? When showing grace to one seems to require withholding grace from another?
The Church and local churches are not immune from grievous sins. Lies, ambition, lust, and abuse continue to plague all of humanity, and being a Christian is not an inoculation against a fallen nature. Each failure has more than one victim, and therein lies the challenge, especially if repentance by the transgressor is honest and true. The consequences of that sin (or those sins) are not mitigated by an apology, however sincere. How does grace apply here? Where does healing begin? Can relationships be restored in the wake of grievous sin?
Complications when disputes over theological interpretations arise
This is a hard topic. Conflicts among believers are not new; even the disciples disagreed. Peter and Paul, two early church planters and leaders argued, and there is no real evidence that their rift was ever repaired. Paul called out Peter for his habit of being friendly to Gentiles until James sent Jewish men to town. Paul wrote, "When they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party" (Galatians 2:13). Paul called Peter a hypocrite, saying that either Christ came for all people or He only came for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Peter, as one of the disciples, generally contended that Gentiles who wanted to follow Jesus had to convert to Judaism first, but he didn't follow Jewish customs himself when he was with Gentiles. Other Jewish church leaders followed Peter in that practice, which infuriated Paul, whose ministry was primarily to Gentiles. Paul was certain that people who had faith became sons of Abraham by adoption, not conversion (Galatians 3:19-29; Romans 11; 1 Corinthians 6:17-24).
Their disagreement divided the early church, but in that division, both were seeking to promote Jesus as Messiah. Similarly, the Church has divisions today: Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant. Then there are further differences by denominations, practices, and preferences. As long as a group is preaching Jesus as THE way, truth and life (John 14:6) through his life, crucifixion, and resurrection (Galatians 3; Romans 14:7-9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-19; 1 Peter 3:18-22), then grace should prevail. Interpretations are for discussion and discourse for God's glory. No one knows the mind of the Father, and there are things that no one person, or even group of people, can know for certain beyond the explicit and simple expression of the gospel. As my pastor said in a sermon, "We're all on the same team."
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