There are three doctrines referred to in Scripture: (1) The doctrine of devils, (2) the doctrine of man, and (3) the doctrine of Christ and of God. When each of us examines the doctrine of our own religious group, have we ever asked the question - or do we ask it enough - from whence does this teaching come? My contention is this: if those who consider themselves to be Followers of Christ would flesh out their faith by only doing that which Jesus exemplified in the Holy Bible (after all, He said He came as our example), making it their mission to fulfill the 59 "one another" verses of the New Testament, well... the world would, literally, be a much better place.
A REAL LIFE EXAMPLE
There was a time when I might have been considered a "Special Forces" Soul Winner in the Lord's Army. I was a heat-seeking missile, ready to lead any unsuspecting bystander in a sinner's Prayer at the drop of a hat... and I carried a stack of hats! I kept a running tally of the number of people whom I led in such a profession of faith. I knocked on doors every Saturday for two years straight, no matter the weather, leading folks down "the Roman Road," as we called it. I worked in "Hell Houses" at churches during Halloween. I'd often don a Christian T-Shirt and place my Bible near my front door, prepared to ambush any unsuspecting Jehovah's Witness or Mormon missionary. I was a model of soul-winning in the large church I attended.
Then, I repented. In other words, I changed my mind.
I began to question where this soul-winning procedure came from, asking the tough questions such as, "Is this even biblical?" and "Did Jesus or Paul teach this or model it?" Charles Finney was the greatest proponent of the "soul-winning" technique and even HE repented of it.
HOUSE RULE #1: LOVE ONE ANOTHER
These days. I prefer letting the love of God shine through me, thereby attracting people and causing them to be drawn to me, asking questions, and establishing their own legitimate relationship with the Father as opposed to "getting their ticket punched" through some manmade, religious, unscriptural technique. When we embrace the concept of "preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom" versus the extra-biblical "Gospel of Salvation," it's easy to see why the church is so big yet so powerless.
I can't imagine who wouldn't enjoy being part of a church, or a Religion, in which the house rules included: love one another, prefer one another, submit to one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, forgive one another, be kind and compassionate to one another, live in harmony with one another, offer hospitality to one another, serve one another, spur one another on toward love and good deeds, teach one another, etc.
TODAY, WE GET ORGANIZED!
Let's say you discovered, or have affiliation with, such a group. Everything was moving along swimmingly until, one day, someone decided, because the group was growing, "We'd better get organized!" Slowly, additional rules are introduced. Bylaws are written. Despite their best intentions, the need for governing these people enters in and with that, new rules. No longer are the "one another's" and the desire to follow the example of Jesus, seen as being sufficient. Some of the new rules are obviously manmade, intended for crowd control. However, other rules are embraced for which there is absolutely no biblical support. Some are even in direct opposition to Christ's teachings. In time, out of your wonderful "One Another" group, another denomination is established as "church as usual" evolves.
Folks, for any couple, any family, any church, love and unity produce power. Frankly, without power, we are wasting space, time, and resources, forcing ourselves to settle for meaningless religiosity instead. It makes so much logical sense to me that, if all who claim to be Followers of Jesus were to do ONLY that which He did as recorded in Scripture, as well as what His disciples did, in so doing, even the most ruthless editing of one's doctrinal positions could produce a loving, more unified Body of Christ, the kind outsiders would find more attractive.
How's this working for us? It's not! In fact, if the Body of Christ were a business, we'd be bankrupt. I believe we would having nothing to lose by, with a warfare mentality, developing a new strategy, in summits across the land, if many mainline churches would gather and start pruning their doctrine in an effort to teach only what Jesus taught, abandoning anything that doesn't qualify as a "one another" directive, well... we would be no worse off than we are.
I'm childish enough in my faith to believe this. How about you?
Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
Founder, The Church @ Work
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