Who is My Brother?

 

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”  1 Corinthians 12:27

“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”  Ephesians 1:22-23

 Something that has broken my heart ever since I started walking with Jesus are denominations. I recognize that it’s important for people to be able to worship and serve alongside others in the way God intended for them, and I can see how different denominations would serve that, as we are all so very different. But why must there be such division between them?


 I wonder if, for some people, seeing that someone believes differently about something than they do makes them question their own beliefs. They don’t want to consider that someone else could be right because then they would be wrong. And if they’re wrong about one thing, take communion for example, then maybe they’re wrong about all of it! Is it pride? Insecurity? I’m just not sure.


 What I’ve landed on is that Jesus is what matters. As long as another person claims Jesus as their savior, they are my brother or sister, or whatever they’d like to call themselves. Beyond that, how you celebrate baptism, how you partake in communion, what your marriage ceremony looks like, anything else really is not worthy of argument. Don’t get me wrong, as you’ve seen I’m perfectly happy to talk with you about it! But I definitely don’t want it to separate us or come between us in any way.

 I am so sad to read in history about animosity, even wars between Christian brothers. That’s just not what God called us to! We are told over and over in scripture that God is love, and love is how we are to represent Him to the world. Consider this verse:

If anyone says "I love God" and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.  (1John 4:20 NET)

 People would like to justify themselves in this by saying that people of another denomination are not Christians, but consider that the original word used here is most frequently translated “Brother.” You can get literal with it if you really want to, but what I hear is, “Who is my neighbor?” One of the most iconic and repeated stories Jesus told, the Good Samaritan, came from this question. The hospital in my home town is actually named after it. If Jesus painted a story so intricate and loving over a neighbor, what would He think of Presbyterians throwing pipe bombs at Catholics?

Here's the Thing: It all comes down to love. Love is the greatest, and second greatest commandment. Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself. As Jesus said, “All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:40)

 I go to the church I go to because the teaching is scriptural, I enjoy the worship, and they are like minded about serving our community. I actually have no idea what denomination it is! That may sound crazy to some of you, but I kind of like it. I’m not a Baptist or a Methodist or a Quaker or a Catholic, I’m a follower of Jesus Christ. First, foremost, and always!

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