“Can’t we all just get along?”
These famous words were quoted by Rodney King after the acquittal of three police officers who had been charged with police brutality. The acquittal triggered the Los Angeles riots of 1992.
Well church, there is another battle going on that is causing even more damage of an eternal significance: Christians fighting each other while the world is going to hell. When was the last time you heard someone criticize another fellow believer, their church, their pastor or someone else’s ministry? Worse yet, when was the last time you did that?
Why do we continue to fall into this trap of hurting one another with our words and actions? Jesus tells us, in Mark 3:25-26, that Satan is behind this battle plan which appears to be very effective. If he can keep the church family fighting within, he wins. The church will be so preoccupied with themselves that Satan can continue to wreak havoc unopposed.
Do any of you out there recall the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples before he was executed? Like anyone knowingly facing imminent death, he chose his words very carefully to convey what was dearest to his heart. “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35). He then concluded his speech with a prayer for those he would be leaving behind.
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – and may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:20-23).
Our church purposely changed its name a few years ago to “Club1.” This was to remind us that we are a part of a larger family and greater work. The CLUB acronym means “Christian Love United by the Blood.” The number “1” is found in Ephesians 6:1-2 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” We realized that getting along with each other and serving together is not only a witness to the world but it also pleases our heavenly father, while ticking off the evil one.
The fact of the matter is no one is perfect and there is no one perfect church, yet in our area there is a variety of good churches and good Christians. There are different forms of worship, different message deliveries and different styles of music. There are large churches and small ones. There are traditional ones, contemporary ones, and those somewhere in between. Yes, as Rodney King indicated “we should all try to get along,” but that’s not good enough. We must follow the mandate from the king of kings, “to love one another” and in so doing we prove to the world we are his disciples!
See you in church.
