Sometimes I read a blog post and say, “Wow — I wish I had said that.” Such is this post.
When I do marital counseling, I try to teach the couple to value one another’s differences. If they can learn to do that, then they can synergize and see the marriage become greater than the sum of the two. It’s the same in the church.
Unfortunately, the tendency of human beings to be extremists in their thinking causes the two positions noted in Stetzer’s post to alienate one another rather than cherishing one another. The result — stagnancy. It must feel luke-warm to Jesus.
Does this fall under gifts? Some churches are gifted with evangelicalism, some are gifted with teaching theology. It doesn’t mean that one is right and the other wrong, they’re simply fulfilling the gifts God gave them.
I was just listening to Acts on the way to work this morning and they were talking about the Jews who said the Gentiles had to be circumcised to be believers. Finally there was a council meeting held (without, I’m sure, the pledge of alligence or minutes being read or officer’s reports 😉 ) where they boiled everything down as simply as possible.
I’ve read many times that it’s the differences that attract a couple, and unless you continue to value those differences, they’ll also drive you apart. Same with churches. I love that our ministerium chooses to put aside differences to work together on things. That, I believe, makes us stronger in the end.