As I sit here this morning wondering about the confusion that exist throughout the world, I won dered why can't we all just get along? North Korea has exploded, at least, one nuclear bomb test and fired off three or four "test flights," the Dow Jones numbers rise and fall like a child's yo-yo; critics appear before the president announces his nomination for the U. S. Supreme Court; and, churches on every corner bicker with one another over some matter of opinion! Can we all just get along? Do we have to criticize each other just because we don't cross every "t" and dot every "i" exactly alike?
We are engaged in a significant expansion and remodeling of our church facilities right at the moment. It has been a project that began last September and is just now drawing to a close. I have watched with interest throughout these eight months as the work has been done. One thing that has caught my attention is the precision of the process. As one job is completed, another one is opened up for a different group of workers. Some work in the area of preparation and are replaced by builders and they are replaced by finishers! Today, painters have spotted places that need a bit more attention while others have been applying the finishing touch. One will be cutting a piece of moulding while one is being carried to the third guy who will put it in place! Precision! It reminds me of a finely tuned dance troup who knows each others move and are ready to step in at the right time.
Why can't life be that way?
If folk were less eager to criticize the opposition and more concerned about getting the job done, peace might just break out everywhere. Lasting peace! Politicians have an "unwritten code" that they must not applaud the efforts of the opposing party! Athletes must not congratulate their opponents even in defeat! Neighbors must fine some critical point with each other's lawns! Churches must announce the differences they have with each other! Why can't we all just get along?
Maybe the reason is that we just cannot be wrong about anything! I remember as a child blaming every scuffle that my brother and I had on my brother. I doubt that he was the source of all our disputes, but I was not about to admit my guilt! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to live with the above disposition? If one cannot be wrong about anything, he must always be on edge lest he be mistaken about something. What if the one thing I don't know proves me to be wrong about some practice? It means that I have to ignore the obvious error and plod ahead because I cannot be wrong! How sad! How troubling!
Friends, neighbors and brethren, why can't we all just get along?
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I left a c of c church and joined a lutheran church over false doctrine. I was being badgered continually about the baptism issue. I had been babTIZED four times, but people thought it was important for me to accept false doctrine instead of the (lucado)evangelical view. So I went back to the source and read Stone and the Campbells. What worthless hacks!- in the same league as Ellen White and Joseph Smith. So I left, because people will not stop arguing. We all don't get along because some churches are cults.
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