“Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you.” (Rom 15:7)
Recently I watched the movie 'Envy' starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and my favorite actor, Christopher Waalken. One scene in particular has burned into my memory. Ben Stiller is in a bar, drinking a cocktail out of a pineapple with a tiny umbrella, and tells Waalken "I blew up at my boss." Waalken replies with a very definitive"Good for you, man! Good for YOU ! Good FOR you."
Doesn't the expression “Good for you” epitomize Christianity? Let's try it on for size. (Me)"I love God!" (You) "Good for YOU ! Good FOR you!" Christianity is definitely good for us in more ways than one, but is it good for God? I have heard it said that more people are offended by Christians than they are by God.
See, the problem with some of us Christians is, we think we’re the cat’s pajamas, and everyone else is in the dog house as far as God’s concerned. Somewhere down the road of the Christian journey, we have been led to believe that if anyone is different from us, we must separate from them. The person calling for the separation implies that he is from a group which has all the truth. This causes a person to develop a spirit of exclusiveness which insists that he separate from those who are different from him in their practice or belief. When Paul exhorts us to welcome one another, he is referring to all our brothers and sisters in Christ, even the weakest of them. He forbids us to judge them because of their practices. Christ didn’t accept us because we were so good. We were welcomed while we were sinful and ignorant.
One religious denomination believes they have exclusive rights to heaven. A second denomination thinks the first denomination will never make it there. A third denomination is sure the first and second denominations are both hell-bound, and they are the only ones heading to heaven. And then there are the church goers who believe that the people who don’t go to church are lost, and those who don’t belong to any church who believe the church goers are lost. Been there, done that. I’m grateful that God doesn’t separate Himself from the likes of us!
I found this joke on the internet. It really tells it like it is:
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. I immediately ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!"
"Why shouldn't I?" he said.
I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
"Well ... are you religious or atheist?"
"Religious."
"Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?"
"Christian."
"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist Church of God."
"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"
To which I said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.
People, can we all just get along?
