"The most important question I think is not what you believe about the Bible, but are you following Christ. Most people debate scriptures as an excuse for not following Christ. If we all followed Christ, we would have no hunger, no extremely wealthy and extremely poor. There would be no wealthy nations and others starving. "
The most important person in history is Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus who taught love, forgiveness, sacrifice, unity, and humility. This is not to say, though, that Christians have an excuse to be intolerant, hateful, or judgmental towards those of differing faiths. On the contrary, we are called to live in love and harmony. As a Christian, I am committed to following the Lord Jesus and what He stands for. His word, the Bible, is the revelation of God to His people and it contains the truths revealed from God about Himself and what He desires for us. I am saying that the Bible, as the only inspired word of God, says we are to love our enemies and pray for them that persecute us (Matt. 5:44).
The essence of tolerance and is best exemplified in the life of Christ who forgave and healed so many -- even though they did not deserve it. He was merciful and we need to be just as merciful and kind. Religious tolerance is a vital part of getting along here and in the world. But, we also need to fight for the faith and not back down from the truth. Deliver this truth with love.
Recognize that denominations, to a small degree, are necessary and will never go away, doctrinal purity is a plague when it unnecessarily divides that which has been made Holy by Christ’s blood. It may already be that doctrinal idols have invaded our churches after all, we too often sacrifice people on the altar of doctrinal purity. Then we politely and lovingly expel fellow believers from our churches and bless them on the way out because they baptize by immersion or don't, or speak in tongues or don't, or believe or don't, etc. Hurt and confused, some wander the spiritual landscape looking for a safe haven only to fall prey to false teachers or the seductive call of the world. Yes, we need doctrinal purity and we may even need to die for it one day, but doctrinal purity is not our God. Confessions and creeds are not our bread and wine. We should not sacrifice the blessing of unity for the minutia of purity. But some will say, "These doctrines are important and our church has the truth." Perhaps. But Jesus said the world would know we were His disciples by the love we have for one another, not the purity of our doctrine.
And what does the world see in all this? Does it see a visible church full of sacrifice, full of love, or full of people who consider others more important than themselves?
Shalom
