In the preface to Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis does something which I think many Christians tend to forget. He states the direction from which he is coming; he is dispenses with the non-essential of denomination and moves forward with the purpose to access the essential of religion.
It is so easy, with the abundance of choice available to us when choosing a church family to forget the Christian focus of following Christ for the glory of God. I know when my mother and father were growing up (this is in Green Bay, Wisconsin) the Catholics and the Protestants were at each others' throats. The children would bully each other over nothing but the title as they saw their parents doing. How can we expect people, non-believers, to convert to a faith that on the surface can not even live with its self?
The answer is we can not, and Lewis discerningly states that fact. The denomination is not the essential. But the faith is. Christ is the one essential, and doctrine and denomination come second. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and if Brother Catholic prefers his sermon in Latin and Sister CRC prefers John Calvin to Sister Methodist's Wessly, then there should be not gnashing of teeth, for we all are striving for the same goal; salvation through Christ to the glory of God.
While the rest of Lewis's layout of what "mere" Christianity is is beautiful as well, I feel that the introduction is more important than could be realized by simply breezing through it. Lewis sets an example we all should be accountable to as Christians; remembering what is truly essential and not allowing our differences to divide us.
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Good post, I'm sorry to hear you had bullies in you neighborhood. It is true that believer need to not take their differences and use it to not bite at one another. I do not believe, however, that having disagreements can cause a person to not come to the christian faith because after all, people do not come to the Christian faith based on their own power but rather on the holy spirit. Plus the mark of a good family is not one that never disagrees (this just doesn't exist) but rather a family, which, in the midst of their disagreement, can still call each other brothers and sisters. A family that never disagrees could just mean a family that is afraid of one another (but this is not absolute).
ReplyDeletePlease let me know if you think differently!!!!
Thank you for the responses. Like I said early, I do still really like you post. It is sad when denomination are afraid and dislike other denomination. On a good note, It is good to know that we need grace even in that area of faith.
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