Noel
It is one of my hobby horses that we do not pay enough attention to the way
we use words and what they actually mean. The word church in its original
form meant the body of believers and had only two manifestations - the local
church and the universal church. Over the years people have changed or
added to the meaning with unfortunate results. For example, the sentence,
"He doesn't come to our church" is wrong on a number of counts:
1. You do not "go" to church. Church is a state of belonging. Ok, so you
change the sentence to, "He doesn't belong to our church". This is wrong on
2 counts at least. "Our church" implies that there is more than one church -
WRONG! Secondly, the church does not belong to us it belongs to Jesus. It is
His bride.
You may think that I am splitting hairs but look at how good at division
this wrong useage of language is and how it leads to wrong thinking and sin.
He's a catholic I'm not going to help him. She's a baptist. Why should I
help her? As the Samaritan said, "He's a Jew. He can rot and die". Oh, he
didn't say that. Well he should have shouldn't he!
After 16 years of being born again, the Lord is getting through my thick
skull and stony heart. Sounds like there is a lot less work to do on you bro
(in this area, at least). So my point is that there is only one church and
the fact that another believer chooses to worship elsewhere does not mean
that we have any less obligation towards him/her and we should not treat
them any differently. Men will know us by the love we bear towards one
another. So how do men know us?
(Gets down from soapbox)
BoW.
[Hope you don't mind the cc to Rangernet but I think it a topic which
deserves a wider audience]
-----Original Message-----
From: Spirit Rider <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Brian of Wiggin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 17 June 1999 23:34
Subject: Re: [RR] Kids
>> Just ask your pastor, fellow leaders or whoever, one question. How many
>> churches are there?
>
>And your point?
>I'm not with you on this.
>
>Later,
>Noel"Spirit Rider"Bell
>
>
>
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