09-02-2005, 10:22 AM
The UpWords Weekly Email Devotional
Maxlucado.com/newsletter
02/09/05
_____________________________
DIVISION OR UNITY ------
by Max Lucado
Suspicion and distrust often lurk at God's table. Around the table the
siblings squabble, and the Father sighs.
The Father sighs because he has a dream. “I have other sheep that are
not in this flock, and I must bring them also. They will listen to my
voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd†(John 10:16).
God has only one flock. Somehow we missed that. Religious division is
not his idea. The flock has one shepherd. And though we may think there
are many, we are wrong. There is only one.
Never in the Bible are we told to create unity. We are simply told to
maintain the unity that exists. Paul exhorts us to preserve “the unity
which the Spirit gives†(Eph. 4:3, NEB). Our task is not to invent
unity, but to acknowledge it.
I have two sisters and a brother. We are siblings because we came from
the same family. We have the same father and mother. I'm sure there
have been times when they didn't want to call me their brother, but
they don't have that choice.
Nor do we. When I see someone calling God Father and Jesus Savior, I
meet a brother or sister.
What would happen (I know this is a crazy thought), but what would
happen if all the churches agreed, on a given day, to change their
names to simply “church� What if any reference to any denomination
were removed and we were all just Christians? And then when people
chose which church to attend, they wouldn't do so by the sign outside Â…
they'd do so by the hearts of the people inside. And then when people
were asked what church they attended, their answer wouldn't be a label
but just a location.
And then we Christians wouldn't be known for what divides us; instead
we'd be known for what unites us-our common Father.
Crazy idea? Perhaps.
But I think God would like it. It was his to begin with.
Maxlucado.com/newsletter
02/09/05
_____________________________
DIVISION OR UNITY ------
by Max Lucado
Suspicion and distrust often lurk at God's table. Around the table the
siblings squabble, and the Father sighs.
The Father sighs because he has a dream. “I have other sheep that are
not in this flock, and I must bring them also. They will listen to my
voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd†(John 10:16).
God has only one flock. Somehow we missed that. Religious division is
not his idea. The flock has one shepherd. And though we may think there
are many, we are wrong. There is only one.
Never in the Bible are we told to create unity. We are simply told to
maintain the unity that exists. Paul exhorts us to preserve “the unity
which the Spirit gives†(Eph. 4:3, NEB). Our task is not to invent
unity, but to acknowledge it.
I have two sisters and a brother. We are siblings because we came from
the same family. We have the same father and mother. I'm sure there
have been times when they didn't want to call me their brother, but
they don't have that choice.
Nor do we. When I see someone calling God Father and Jesus Savior, I
meet a brother or sister.
What would happen (I know this is a crazy thought), but what would
happen if all the churches agreed, on a given day, to change their
names to simply “church� What if any reference to any denomination
were removed and we were all just Christians? And then when people
chose which church to attend, they wouldn't do so by the sign outside Â…
they'd do so by the hearts of the people inside. And then when people
were asked what church they attended, their answer wouldn't be a label
but just a location.
And then we Christians wouldn't be known for what divides us; instead
we'd be known for what unites us-our common Father.
Crazy idea? Perhaps.
But I think God would like it. It was his to begin with.