issues with issues

I start a lot of blogs that never get finished.  This morning, I started one that was to be a fine synopsis on the reasoning behind all those pro-lifers who voted "no" on prop 26 and how they were all wrong.  I was going to say a lot, and I was going to change at least a few of those minds!  Yessir! . . . and Ma'am!  I was going to make a bold move and it was gonna be something to behold!  I was.  But . . . I didn't.  I couldn't.

You see, the blog I posted just the other day - my most read blog thus far by the way - was all about dying to self so that Christ may live in us and through us.  Now, that doesn't mean that we always keep our mouths shut and that we don't speak out.  It does mean that Jesus tells us when to open our mouths and when to speak out and what to say.  I was going to give you my two cents worth, and it may well have been right in line with His thoughts.  But, I was reacting to what had stimulated my brain, not acting on His guidance.  And, I can't really explain it, He just wouldn't let me post it here.  Why I can express my opinion on another venue (and I always try to be Spirit led) and I can't always do so here, I don't know.  He let's me do it there . . . holds me back here.  I'm not complaining, though.  It's His to do. But, I was about to mess up. Sometimes I forget that what I write for others to see is really for me to read. 

The thing is, there is a bigger issue than prop 26 that is rising out of that controversy.  As I was posting some comments on facebook earlier, I sensed that a very divisive issue was about to do just that . . . divide.  I fear that it has already caused division among some Christians, and I felt that it was on the verge of happening to me.  As Christians, we can discuss, we can disagree, we can even hold what might be called a civil argument. But, we must not allow ourselves to be divided.

I copied this from the very first blog I posted: 
  
"John 17:23 (New King James Version)²³ ". .. I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one . . ."

When an individual comes to the cross and accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, a connection is instantly created. The Holy Spirit comes into them, filling a place left void in humanity from the moment sin entered the world with Adam's act of disobedience. They are connected with Jesus. He is their personal Savior, Lord of their life.  They are connected with God. ("I in them, and You in Me . . .") They are connected with every other Christian in existence. ( ". . . that they may be made perfect in One.")  We are One. We're not perfect yet, but we are One, being made perfect by the work of Jesus Christ in us. We are connected by Jesus Christ by way of His sacrifice on our behalf on the Cross. We are connected by the cross. We are CrossConnected!"

I don't call this blog "CrossConnected"  merely to reflect my own connection to God by the cross.  I call it this to emphasize the connection all Christians have with one another by the cross.  We need to make sure that, whatever we do, we are growing closer together, even in times of disagreement, that we may become of one accord.  It's hard to understand how we can hold so strongly to so many different opinions, sometimes even totally opposite positions, at the same time that we are striving to have the mind of Christ.  We pray fervently about particular matters and approach them fully believing that we are acting under the leading of the Holy Spirit, and we think we are in the right, and yet we find that other Christian brothers and sisters whom we love and respect have "been led" in a totally opposite direction!

Few things fit into the "what's right for one is wrong for another" category.  Some things have only one answer.  So, obviously somebody got it wrong.  Here is where Satan can kill the relationship, steal the issue, and destroy the witness.  Here is where Satan can take whatever Jesus has accomplished in making us One and send us farther back than our original starting point ever was, divided and unwilling to come together.

The vote, like everything that happened yesterday, is done.  Hopefully, there will be another day.  Let's agree right now, all of us, to pray for each other and to pray for that day.  Let's pray that the Holy Spirit will do such a work in us that the whole Body of Christ will act with THE mind of Christ.  This won't happen unless we all seek His strength and wisdom in setting aside our own thoughts and opinions while we seek to acquire His.  We're on the winning team. Let's win!

 As for our relationships:

Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23


It's a new day. Let's not fail one another, but follow our LORD'S example and extend grace and mercy to one another, and be faithful to each other as He is faithful to us in our failings.  Let's not allow the stand we take on issues to cause us to stand apart.  If we are fractured by the very things we approach as Christians, the world will have no idea of who we are.  After all, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”       

I don't know just what "perfect in One" really means. But I can't wait to find out!
(And I'm glad, for once, that I didn't finish a blog post.)

Connected,
Dennis