Comments& Church of Christ06 Aug 2006 09:57 pm
It has long seemed to the writer that many if not most doctrinal differences are caused by a partial apprehension of the truth, rather than from a wilful desire to depart from God’s word. A man perceives some special point of the truth, and loyally contends for that. If then he closes his mind to further teaching, or even tries to nullify the Scriptures that seem to conflict with his limited view, he becomes a sectarian. But if he accepts all that God says, and seeks to take hold of all in growing apprehension, he realizes to that extent the privilege and doctrinal position of a simple Christian. This is a distinctive mark.-R.H. Boll, The Kingdom of God.
Robert Henry Boll saw a lot of sectarianism during his time.
This statement by Boll does well to illustrate our culture in Churches of Christ. It certainly illustrates where I came from, and where I am hopefully moving away from more and more.
-Clarke
RSS feed for comments on this post. | TrackBack URI
August 7th, 2006 at 2:19
Clarke,
“If then he closes his mind to further teaching, or even tries to nullify the Scriptures that seem to conflict with his limited view”, sums up the times I have found myself creating division or at least stirring the pot of dissent. Arrogance and blinders are no replacement for Bible study and reasoning with your brother. Thanks for the quote.
Sincerely,
Phil
August 7th, 2006 at 2:53
The divisiveness of the church keeps people from coming to the truth sooner. Last night I immersed a homeless man into the body of Christ, and one thing that we talked about was the divisions in the Lord’s Church. All I could tell him was that it breaks God’s heart to see so much division in the Body.
In Christ,
GB HOYT
August 7th, 2006 at 7:39
Hi Clarke,
R. H. Boll’s statement is a profound insight.
It seems to me that the tendency to cling to our current incomplete understanding is rooted in insecurity and fear. People don’t want to lose what they think they’ve grasped. They trust the people they know, who taught them partial truth, more than they trust those who are trying to teach them what they’ve missed. So they put up walls of defense.
Often people on the other end of the spectrum react against that insecurity and fear with disdain and even anger, which only makes matters worse. The route to unity requires compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Col 3:12)
August 7th, 2006 at 11:39
One of the hardest things to do, is to always read the scriptrures with humility.
In addition to the listing that Alan has above, I would add repentance to what is needed for unity.