Valerie Rae Hanneman
Philippians 4:5 (KJV) “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand”
One day I brought a tray of vegetables to share at my morning Bible study. Another woman brought a box of donuts. A third woman had brought a freshly baked cake. About mid-way through the study we took our break, got some food and came back to the table. As we sat there, we laughingly commented on the contents of our plates. All of us had some vegetables and at least one of the sweets on our plates. On each plate was a different combination of the different foods. Some had a big helping of veggies with a little bit of the sweets, some had more sweets than veggies, some were 50/50. We talked about how good we felt about taking the veggies, knowing that they are good for our bodies. We all felt a little guilty about the sweets. But in reality, the sweets are not necessarily bad for us. We agreed that it was a matter of moderation. If we overindulge in the sweets we will harm our bodies, but if we are careful with the amount of sweets that we eat, then we can enjoy the pleasure of them without harming ourselves.
I simply love the diversity among Christians. Because of our life experiences and where we are in our walk with Christ each of us are in a relationship with Him that - although firmly anchored in His astonishing love for us - is as unique and diverse as we are. My relationship with God may be very similar to yours in many ways, but I know that our relationships with Him are also very dissimilar in even more ways.
Just as the vegetables that we eat are good for our bodies, there are spiritual vegetables that are good for our spiritual body. To be in the Word of God regularly, to have time in the presence of our Father, to be in a community of faith with other believers - these are just some of the vegetables that build up our spiritual bodies. So what are the sweets? The things that do not build up our spiritual bodies, but also do not harm us - unless they are taken to excess.
I have a Christian friend who will not go to the movies because she thinks all of them promote a sinful lifestyle. I, on the other hand, love to go to the movies. But I am choosy about what I go to see. I seldom go to an “R” rated movie particularly if they are heavy on the violence and/or adult themes. I figure that I get enough of that from the newspaper. Then I have a friend who will go to any movie as long as it is not rated “X”. He says that it is all play-acting and he takes it with a grain of salt. So who is the “right” Christian in their beliefs on movies - and who is the “wrong” Christian. In my humble opinion, none of these views on movies is wrong. All of them are within the context of each individuals walk with Christ. All three of us are eating our spiritual vegetables and maintaining a healthy relationship with our God.
The Amish are a unique community of faith. Their lifestyles reject anything modern. For them, Pampers are a sin - along with everything else that has come since the 17th century. When I was 12, I accepted Christ in a hard-core fundamental community of faith. We were convinced that anybody who did not believe exactly as we believed - including baptism, music, communion, dress styles, hair length, politics and so on - were not going to make heaven. As far as we could tell - Heaven was not going to face an over-population problem. These days I am a member in Jesus’ Church, serving Him through my membership and participation in an American Baptist Church. My pastor told me that American Baptists are considered to be a more liberal community of faith. Compared to the church I was raised in - I can agree with that. And yet, I know of and have attended community of faith’s who make the American Baptists look conservative. So who is the “right” community of faith and who is the “wrong” community of faith? None of them are wrong. Their vegetables are the same - a belief in a Triune God, a belief in heaven and hell, a belief that the Bible is God breathed and inspired, a belief that salvation is only through Jesus, a belief that satan exists as the sworn enemy of God.
The key to living within Your relationship with Jesus, as a person or as a community of faith, is moderation. Movies are not bad for our spiritual bodies until they start to harm our bodies. When the movies begin to take the place of our time in the Word or our time in the presence of our Living God, then we are in excess - just as we would be if we made cake and donuts our major food group. It may be okay for awhile - but pretty soon, we are going to be really, really sick. Same for our spiritual bodies. And I also realize that although there are lots of things that we can do in moderation within our personal walk with Jesus, there are some things that simply unacceptable at any level. We cannot murder in moderation, or steal in moderation, or be sexually impure in moderation.
In a community of faith, as long as the salvation issues are correct, the rest of the issues are more flexible. Some community of faith’s practice full immersion baptism, others practice sprinkling baptisms. Baptism is the public confession of a heart’s change to Christ. If that is what the baptism is symbolizing, then I don’t have a problem with how it is done. But when baptism is made a condition of salvation then it has gone past moderation and into excess. The practices of the individual communities of faith within the Church allow for diversity as long as the core belief in salvation through Jesus Christ remains the foundation.
So how am I supposed to react to the diversity of individual practices within a relationship with Jesus? As long as the individual practices are not harming the individual or the Church then I am to keep my lips shut and my nose out of it. The same is true for individual communities of faith. As long as another community of faith’s practices are not harming the community of faith or not contrary to the foundation of Jesus Christ, then we should keep our lips shut and our noses out of it.
Jest as every plate at our table was a different combination of cake, donuts and veggies, every relationship with Jesus is a different combination of practices. Jesus created us to be diverse. He rejoices in the uniqueness of each of our relationships with Him. He did not create cookie-cutter Christians or cookie-cutter churches. And if He didn’t create them - we had better not create them either.
LORD Jesus, I am glad that nobody else has quite the same relationship as You and I do. I am glad that our relationship is unique. Help me to maintain a healthy balance in our relationship - and help me to never judge another’s relationship with You.
Posted by Valerie at November 5, 2005 08:23 PM