Thought for Today
Jeremiah 14:8 O hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler turning aside for the night?
Luke 10:27 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
Galatians 3:27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
“The divisions of ideology and opinion that create barriers between people melt away because of Jesus.” (These Days, June 19, 2025)
Do they truly ‘melt away?’ Can Christians today claim, “There is no longer Jew or Greek . . .?” We all agree they should. But an internet search quickly reveals there are approximately 900 million Protestants in the world, 1.406 billion Roman Catholics, and 220 million Eastern Orthodox in the world, all identifying themselves as Christian, i.e. followers of Jesus. There are deep divisions of ideology and opinion among them all.
Those 900 million Protestants are divided into 41,000 different denominations, each with its own ideology and opinion. There are deep divisions of ideology and opinion, yet they all identify themselves as Christian. Does it ever seem that we echo in our theology a faith-version of Winston Churchill’s famous words about England and America being two countries separated by a common language? Are Christians separated by our common belief in Jesus as the Christ?
There have been times in the history of Christianity that those divisions of ideology and opinion have resulted in violence, destruction and devastation in the name of Christ. There are shameful examples in the history of the Reformation and even earlier in the history of our faith. Attempts to identify and eliminate heresy are rife. Heretics have been persecuted, burned at the stake and otherwise discouraged . . . because each adherent of each division insists that their one version of ‘the Church’ is the only correct version.
Our differences and divisions in ideology (literally ‘words about ideas’) and opinion exist in almost every aspect of our ‘common’ faith. In my Protestant seminary, I learned that there were 3 major divisions in how Christians govern themselves ecclesiastically, Episcopal (hierarchical), congregational and Presbyterian. Does God really care about how each congregation, each faith tradition governs itself? However you answer, there are other Christians who would answer differently.
The ways we celebrate the Eucharist are equally as divergent as are our ways of governance. The frequency with which we celebrate the Eucharist is also a source of division. Even within the various faith traditions there are differences in frequency. Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Do we take both bread and wine (or grape juice)? Are we served in the pew by ordained elders or deacons, or do we approach the chancel? Do we celebrate by intinction, dipping the bread into a common cup? Do we use consecrated wafers or bread? Are there rules for the type of bread? Can you hear Sonny and Cher singing in the background, And the Beat Goes On?
Who is right? Are all the others wrong? How does any or all of this affect our salvation? Paul told the Ephesians, “2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—” Did God give the Catholics a different gift from the gift God gave the Presbyterians? Did the Methodist get an even different gift? How about the Lutherans?
Maybe we can find some clues in Paul’s 1st letter to the church in Corinth, “1:12 . . . each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? . . . 18 the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
My prayer this morning is that the hymn They’ll Know We are Christians by Our Love will play in the background of all of our minds today and every day. We are and should truly be “one in the Spirit . . . one in the Lord.”
Stay safe, accept God’s gift, trust God,
Pastor Ray