AGOOEYMESS

i attend the vineyard group of churches and enjoy it very much. i came from another denomination, at least in a way. i had gone to a church for a time period, but wasnt committed and didnt have a heart for it. when i found the vineyard it really just clicked in me. it's a great movement that is going on in this country.

if you've ran in any sort of church circles, well scratch that, if you have grown up in america you know there has been a lot of animostiy between the different denominations. i have even hear people at the vineyard speak ill of different denominations. it is not the norm. most people at the vineyard are very open and embrace our brothers and sisters of other faiths. my pastors even starts our service every sunday praying for the other churches that meet in our community. just the same i do not believe it is the norm of other denominations either. maybe slighty more prevelant in some. and i know there have been some pastors or preists that have come out against certain denominations.

i disagree with all of this. i think most of it stems back to fear. sometimes people feel that they have to justify themselves. in order for them to be right someone else has to be wrong. with this mentality if i order a steak and someone else orders a salad the salas eater must be wrong for me to be right (rabbits are rarely wrong from my experience). if someone buys a dell and i buy a mac, the dell user would have to be wrong (dang it macs are so awesome!). every little thing would have to come down to a right and wrong.

while i believe that there are certain concrete right and wrongs. i also believe that we are responsible for ourselves. and the only thing that we need for justification is God. we do not have to berrate people or tell people they are wrong. we do not have to say since you jump around in church or since you sit quietly you are not doing it right. we need to grow into a mature faith of acceptance of other denominations for their differences. if the body of the church shows the world animosity between its own denominations, all we are doing is showing the world to the world. we are supposed to be different than the world. accepting those not acccepted, embracing those not embraced. loving those not loved and helping those not helped. but if we cant even do that with our own brothers and sisters what hope is there to do it with the rest of the world?

i hear a lot of talk about unity. which is great. but usually when i hear it, it's used in a manner of saying... "we need unity, God wants unity, so you are supposed to stop what you're doing and join us because we're right"

are we not unified in Christ? are we not unified in our mission to spread the good news?

so before you say something about a denomination stop and think about it. is what you are saying furthering the the body of christ? or is what you are saying tearing it apart. are you saying it for your own gain? so you can justify yourself by saying another is wrong? remember, if you find yourself being spiritual fed one place and not another, the other person might feel the same way.