Camps

I came across a sad thing this weekend, "Christian" bloggers speaking against Charismatics, lumping them all into a general pile with one or two public figures in that "camp" that may be off the mark. How hurtful. Don't they know that God is charismatic? God is Spirit, and the Giver of spiritual gifts for the Body of Christ, the Worker of signs and wonders for the unbeliever, the Healer and One Who casts out demons for our whole salvation (deliverance of body, soul, and spirit) and told us to do likewise. (John 4:24; Hebrews 2:3-4; I Corinthians 12:4-7; John 2:23; 14:12-15; Matthew 10:7-8; 28.16-20)

Valid onlookers could also bash evangelicals for their one or two public figures who have been also off the mark. There are those who go to extremes or fall into sin in every camp. The point is, we as believers in Christ should not have camps! We have one God: one Father, one Savior, one Holy Spirit, we have one written Word, and there is only one Body of Christ. What's the problem? Why can't we be one in Christ? Why are we rebelling against God's will and explaining away parts of God's Word? Are we not all reading the same Bible? Are we not all reading it and studying it led by the Holy Spirit, Who leads us into all truth? Are we not all laying down our human opinions and logic to learn from the One Who's ways are higher than our ways? Aren't we all just believing what God says and doing it?...

The answer is no. And what a heartbreaking answer it is too. If you are a believer - you ought to be in only one camp - the camp of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by no other name (no denomination, no affiliation, no category) should we claim but that of Christ! These labels are unholy. Jesus prayed for us to be one, and His purpose for His church was, yes, to go out and make disciples, but also to not leave new disciples infants, but to raise everyone up into maturity and unity of faith. As far as I'm concerned, there should not be many faiths in Christ! Denominations should be demolished. (I Corinthians 1:10-15; John 17:11; 20-23; Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 3:14-17) God's Word is not up for human interpretations, not to be translated through our inferior traditions, comfort, or understanding - and certainly not in ways so that we can control God or reduce Him to what we can handle. If we continue to ignore huge chunks of God's Word, and then look down on others who wish to obey it - we are as good as being last in the kingdom of God, and we lead others to that fate as well. (John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:7-15: 17:17; Deuteronomy 12:32; Psalm 119; II Timothy 2.15; 3:16-17; Matthew 5:17-20)

Our divisiveness leads those young in the faith to doubt and be confused, those older in the faith to become prideful, and destroys our testimony to those still lost in the world. We are to love one another, and lay our lives down for one another in Christ! A house divided cannot stand, and is it any wonder that we have weak Christians in the church and are making very little impact on the world around us? This infighting has to stop! This sin of pride and arrogance over the handling of God's Word has got to end - and we must begin to cry out in humble repentance before God and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for our superiority attitudes! We must find a way to shed our systems of classification and come together in unity under the authority of God's entire Word to us, conforming to the image of Christ as one! (John 13:34-35; 15:12-17; I John 3:23-24; Matthew 12:25-30; Ephesians 5:21; Philippians 2:1-5)

Let us leave our man-made doctrines and traditions behind and embrace God's entire Word, likewise embracing all other believers in the name of the Lord Jesus! As Jesus prayed, "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." (John 17:20-21), so I pray this over believers all over the world. I pray that walls of separatism and loftiness will tear down, and that the whole Word of God be raised up - and that we will all be united in the faith of Christ Jesus our Lord as one!