A conversation I've had many times over the past couple of years will go something like this.
Me: "I have a difficulty with how that person because of this......
Other person: "You should not be critical of this person. God has called this person to something different than he has called you and therefore the way you minister is different."
Me: "But I don't think God would call someone this because of what the Bible says...."
So the question: What are the negotiables on belief and what are the nonnegotiables? Consider the following two no-brainer scenarios.
Scenario 1: Someone from my church says that they want the church to endorse unmarried people starting families together. If this happened I would say that I cannot participate because of what God has told me to do.
Scenario 2: Someone from my church says that they want to start a ministry to single mothers living in the local area. If this happened I would say that I cannot participate because of what God has told me to do.
In both Scenario 1 and 2 a person in my church is endorsing something that I cannot be a part of. So what is the difference between these two scenarios? I believe fornication is wrong for Christians in China, for Christians in Barbados, and for Christians in Manhattan. If a church would say that fornication is okay for church members in a particular church I could no longer be a committed member of that church because I believe I would be endorsing sin. Jesus was a friend of sinners but he did not endorse the sin of sinners. I would have no problem being a committed church member with the person who is starting the single mothers ministry. I believe it could possibly be right for a Christian in any given region to start a single mothers ministry if God calls them to this.
Consider Scenario 3: Someone from my church says that they want to start a rap/dance ministry to attract the gangster crowd in our area. As a part of this ministry they are solid preaching and present the gospel. In the other towns where this has been done people have been saved. In fact one of the people my fellow church member wants to team up with was saved through a similar ministry. (Wow this is a really pathetic example, but I struggle with hypothetical scenarios and I'm not sure I should put any real live situations on the table just now.) If this happened I would say hmmmm. "On the one hand, on the other hand....... On the other hand...... There are no more hands" --Tevye the milkman. Some of you may think that the answer here is clear, but forget the exact example and try to get my point.
How do we deal with situations where someone feels called to something that some people feel the principles in the Bible support and others feel the principles in the Bible do not support? This is where division happens. Situations similar to Scenario 3 is one big reason major church divisions happen. Minor church divisions are often because of people getting hurt (not dealing with offenses correctly), people aren't fed (people haven't learned to feed themselves), the church is dead (people fail to see that they are supposed to bring life to the church and then the church would be alive) etc.... I think minor church divisions can be dealt with as people learn to be committed to a church and learn not to walk out when the going gets tough, but I still have very little idea how to deal with the major church divisions. How do we work through situations like scenario 3? Of course being committed to the other people in the church is one of the first steps but there does come a time when, if truth is being compromised to too great an extent a Christian has a responsibility to his own conscience to pack his bags and leave. When should a Christian do this?
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