What Joins Us
Schadrac Junior
Ondongo Bongo
©
Copyright 2020 by Schadrac
Junior Ondongo Bongo
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At
His ascension, the Lord Jesus Christ established one church built on
the teachings of the twelve Apostles. As the Bible says: “Built
on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus
himself as the chief cornerstone.” Ephesians 2:20.
In
AD 325, Church leaders were called together in Bithynian city of
Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine for an
ecumenical council.
The
purpose of that ecumenical council, was to attain consensus in the
church through an assembly representing all of Christendom. In other
words, that council had as its purpose: the unity of faith, tenet,
doctrine and creed.
That
unity lasted for a long time, under the leadership of Roman Catholic
Church and under papal authority in particular. Seven centuries
later, in 1054, the Greek Orthodox Church in the East broke with the
Roman Catholic Church in the West. And there were other movements in
Western Europe after that which were considered heretical and
eventually died out.
But
in the sixteenth century appeared the Protestant Reformation, opposed
to Roman Catholic Church.
And
that Reformation started with reformers such as: Arnold of Brescia,
Peter Waldo, Jan Hus, Tomáš Štítný
ze Štítného, John Wycliffe, and Girolamo
Savonarola. And those who continued the Reformation and eventually
succeeded included Martin Luther in Germany, Zwingli in Zürich,
Calvin in Geneva. After that upheaval, the Catholic Church itself was
reformed by the edicts of the Council of Trent.
As
a result of the Protestant Reformation, Western Christianity adopted
different confessions (Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican,
Anabaptist) and further divisions came with the rising of Baptists in
the 17th century and the Wesleyans (Methodists and Nazarenes) in the
18th century and Disciples of Christ in the 19th century. That was
the basic story so we can understand where we are from.
And
a specific point that we can notice is that every confession has its
doctrines, but Jesus Christ should be our common point.
But
often doctrines constitute an obstacle between Christians.
In
the early church, we can see the same kind of thing between the
Apostle Paul, Cephas (Peter) and Apollos in 1 Corinthians 1:12, 3:22.
The
Apostles made the foundation. But in their time, there were many
concerns between disciples according to their leaders.
Those
who had Peter as a leader never wanted to eat with Gentiles.
Galatians 2:11-14 shows us that.
Every
time God sends a man, He still gave a particular vision that is
specific to him.
When
we put two visions side by side, although both come from the Lord and
should complement each other, but we often see that he who has a
great vision compared to the other, has never been very well
understood.
For
sometimes his understanding of God's vision and God's word is
superior to that of his contemporaries.
And
the Apostle Paul is a perfect example of that.
Jews,
although they were Christians, still kept some things of their
customs (never ate with Gentiles). While in Christ there's no Gentile
or Jew... see Romans 10:12, Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11.
We
all are Christians, children of one Father, that is Jesus Christ.
Despite
our diverse doctrines or tenet or creeds, we have a same heavenly
Father, Jesus Christ (to those who believe in Him as God).
As
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the seed, Apollos
watered it, but God has been making it grow.”
Be
grown-up! Instead of saying, “I have the better doctrine or
tenet or creed,” let's go into the world to catch the last
sheep for the Lord, for His coming is so close.
And
look after our faith, we should remember Jesus Christ asked a
question in Luke18:8:
“However,
when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
And
Paul added in 1 Corinthians 9:27: “No, I strike a blow to my
body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I
myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Stop
arguments about doctrine or tenet or creed, for everybody will stay
with what he thinks to be the truth, with his Biblical statements.
Romans
14:1 “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling
over disputable matters.”
The
Lord added in Luke 10:2: “The harvest is plentiful, but the
workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field.”
If
between us (workers), we pass our time arguing about our diverse
doctrines, who'll talk about the gospel to those who never heard
about Jesus Christ?
And
Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 13:2: “If I have the gift of
prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I
have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am
nothing.”
Jehovah
of the Old testament is Jesus Christ in the New Testament, and He
said: “I am coming soon.” Revelation 3:11, 22:7, 22:12,
22-20 John 14:28.
Let's
be ready to welcome our first and great Love: The Church's Bridegroom
(Jesus Christ).
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