Can Christians Walk Together When They Don't Agree

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Can Christians Walk Together When They Don't Agree

Author: Rick Wynn | Total views: 36 | Word Count: 7393 | Category: Christianity | Date: Sep 18th 2007

Search for: Agreement, Lord, Savior, Relationship, Love, Disagreement, Friendship, Messiah, Foundational, Growth, Knowledge, Wisdom, Separation, Judgment

The Pharisees, convinced by their own confidence of righteousness, believed with absolute certainty that they were right in accordance to their knowledge and understanding of God and that even Jesus was wrong. Before Jesus arrived on the scene, the Pharisees were at work deciphering the scriptures of Moses and the prophets. They knew the oracles of God, could recite them, and understood the prophecies that spoke of the coming Messiah. In the midst of their knowledge, they became complacent with God. They esteemed the letter above God. In other words, they esteemed their scrolls higher than the life, which God was speaking of in the oracles. Confident in their own understanding, they thrived on their egocentrism, self-righteousness, stature, and prestige. They loved the adoration of those who agreed with them and ostracized, persecuted and even stoned to death those who did not. Adamantly fixed in their conviction concerning what they knew, they did not recognize Jesus the Messiah whom they had studied about in the scriptures. They cast Him down, called Him evil, and eventually hung Him on a cross to be crucified.

Sometimes it is necessary to look up from the written words in the Bible to appreciate Gods relevancy to life. In our Christian relationships, perhaps often it does not occur to us that everything God speaks about in the Bible concerns not only life in the time that the word was written, but also the life that we are living today. He told us to be perfect as He is perfect. In other words, Gods desire is that our lives be a reflection of what He says. Therefore, we need to know how the Bible is relevant to our lives, other wise it becomes nothing more than simply flat words in a book. Because the Word of God is life, it is imperative that we receive and understand His Word from the perspective of life, not from the perspective of the letter in the book. How does Gods Word apply to our lives Should the foundation of our lives be based upon the Spirit or carnality The Word says that the letter killeth, but that the Spirit giveth life. If we endeavor to live our lives and build our relationships upon the written words in the book without the understanding that the Word of God is life, then we become susceptible to living and esteeming the letter of the word as opposed to the Spirit, which is life.

Have you ever known Christians who quote scripture all the time, yet their lives do not reflect at all what they tend to quote Many people routinely read the Bible, yet have little to no relationship at all with Christ. In likewise fashion, people quote scriptures to one another during their times of fellowship and within their relationships but they never get around to actually getting to know one another on a personal or even spiritual level, yet they equate their relationship to love. In other words, they do not internalize the Word of God spiritually that it may germinate as a spiritual seed producing everlasting fruit; instead, they receive the Word from the perspective of their carnal understanding. Because they trust in their understanding, they lack in faith, yet call themselves spiritual. Thus, their lives never excel beyond what they can perceive or expect intellectually. Faith comes by hearing and understanding the Word of God, which can only be understood spiritually. People who lack faith rely on their intellectualism. In fact, some people confuse their intellectualism with faith. Being a Christian, living, and conducting yourself in life according to Gods instructions go hand and hand. It is true that Jesus quoted Scripture, but He demonstrated everything He said by way of His life.

Many Christians tend to become only caught up in the scriptures. They are excellent hearers, but not doers. They memorize and recite scripture at every opportunity, but their lives do not necessarily reflect or honor Jesus, though they think it does because of their ability to flow Scripture off their tongues like a river of words. Jesus even said that our lips give Him praise, but our hearts are far removed from what our lips speak. I believe that multitudes of people are turning away from God because the church speaks at them from the perspective of the ink on the pages as opposed to the Bibles relevancy to life. Today, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find distinction between the mindset of the church and that of the secular world. Even many leaders behind pulpits today do not necessarily understand that the Bible is the revelation of life. People may speak, teach, and preach the Bible, but very few actually live it. Christian relationships are quickly built upon the excitement of agreement concerning the knowledge of scripture, but are torn down just as fast because of disagreement concerning the knowledge of scripture. In other words, the relationships are not predicated upon unconditional love as God commanded, they are predicated upon carnal understanding pertaining to the scriptures in the book. The foundations of most Christian relationships are predicated upon the agreement of interpretation concerning the Word of God.

Perhaps it is difficult for us to relate the letter in the book to life because the wisdom and knowledge we learned in church concerning the Bible often gets in the way. In other words, we learned the Bible in the fashion that it was taught. Many leaders speak or preach at us the Bible and its principles, but they do not teach nor even mention much about actually living it out. Therefore, people are not learning about Christ from the perspective of being doers of what He says; they learn about Him only from the perspective of what they hear the Christian preacher or teacher say. If one spends four years in a college institution, he may graduate with a degree, but His degree is only relative to his academic understanding and achievement. What he knows and understands is primarily based upon theory, calculation, and speculation, but not actual life experience. I had a job once where I was told that if I wanted to excel it would be much better for me if I were to forget what I had learned in my college courses. Much of what I learned was not necessarily in vain; some of it actually did come in handy, but concerning the job, what I learned academically had very little bearing on real life practice. In other words, life tends to go much deeper than what seems to suffice on paper. Sometimes our life experiences may dictate that we must unlearn or discard what we learned academically in order to excel spiritually.

Ink written letters in a book cannot sum up dimensional life. The written letters in the Bible for instance, serve as a guideline in order to grasp the Rhema or spoken Word of God. Most people do not progress beyond the written letters to understand that God actually speaks. He actually gives us physical experiences through what is written. I attended a church service once where the pastor asked the congregation to hold up their sword. Just about every person in the church, including the pastor, grabbed a bible and held it up. In other words, he indirectly taught his congregation that in the event of spiritual warfare, one could simply use the bible as say a crucifix against such evil like in the movies where the hero wards of the vampire with the crucifix. At the very least, perhaps one could recite scripture from the bible and the battle would immediately cease. Even the pastor himself did not understand that the bible was not the sword, that actually the Word of God spoken from his own lips in faith was the sword. Because He didnt know this, neither did his congregation. Because Christians can recite, intellectualize the letter, and remember the location of scripture in the Bible, for instance, many assume they have a foundation of faith. They presumptuously characterize themselves as having understanding, wisdom, and unconditional love toward their brethren.

In our Christian relationships we are usually inclined to spout what we know concerning scripture because we want other Christians to know how spiritual and holy we are. We also love and crave the acceptance of others. The more spiritual and holy we perceive each other to be in our Christian relationships, the stronger the relationships tend to become. We love the complements, praise, and flattery we receive as we agree in our recitals and rebuttals concerning scripture. Many Christians also tend to believe that assembling themselves with others in this fashion is beneficial for the praise and worship of God, but is the attention and adoration that we are so compelled to seek from one another actually relevant to God In all honesty, who actually gets the praise, God or us Many Christian relationships formed in this manner can only be superficial in nature because they are predicated upon agreement concerning scriptural knowledge and understanding. In such instances, even our reverence of Jesus tends to be a mere intellectual acclamation or form of tradition (Isaiah 29:13). In other words, people cite scriptures believing that doing such makes them holier in the eyes of God, yet they have little to no revelation of what they are reciting. Their lives (from Gods point of view) do not reflect the Word of God. The letter of the word consumes their heart, but they live their lives independent of what God actually tells them to do. Jesus spoke of this very kind of reverence being the epitome of the Pharisees relationship with God (Mark 7:6-7).

I met a person through the Internet who loved the Lord. In fact, she not only diligently studied the Word but actually quoted and recited scriptures in just about every sentence, yet she actually said that she really didnt have a desire of getting to know people, that she would much rather prefer to just talk about the Lord. Well, we can talk about the Lord until we are blue in the face, but if we never get around to doing what the Lord says, then all the talk amounts only to vanity. God summed up all His commandments into one commandment where He told us to love one another. How do we do this as Christians when we are not even interested in getting to know one another Have you ever sat among a congregation in a church where hardly anyone spoke to or even acknowledge another When the service ends, people quietly pile out or only speak to the familiar. This person and her husband often spoke about how much they loved and adored my wife and me yet they had little interest in us other than the fact that we were Christians. Whenever Id try discussing things pertinent to our lives, or ask them questions about theirs, they would always direct the conversation back to the scriptures. The Word of God tells us that there is a time for everything. For instance, there is a time to discuss scriptures, and there is a time to discuss life even though they both go hand in hand. If we never get around to developing relationships because were too busy being holy, how do we discern the hearts of those we say we love When we are oblivious to other peoples hearts, it becomes very easy to judge them whenever there is disagreement. This couple followed the letter of the word in loving us, but they didnt love us with their hearts. The depth of their love was only the ink in the book. Because they didnt know our hearts, they judged us and severed the relationship when we disagreed. People tend to allow their agreements or disagreements between them to take precedence over Jesus commandment to love unconditionally. Thus, we easily form loving friendships when we agree, yet easily repel and destroy such relationships when we do not agree. How does unconditional love fit into this scenario

In Amos 3:3 God said, Can two walk together except they be agreed Concerning our Christian walk, I believe that it is safe to say that we already have a foundational spiritual agreement. Those who have truly accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior in addition to endeavoring to follow Christ and obey His commandments have this foundational agreement. Is it not true that their hearts are toward God as opposed to Satan Are we not also in spiritual agreement if we endeavor to love Him as He commanded in addition to loving each other unconditionally despite our own personal disagreements concerning what we know intellectually or even spiritually Who has arrived in their understanding toward God spiritually I certainly have not and I would venture to say that neither have you. Thus, pertaining to such understanding, how could we ever not agree We tend to hold the bible in one hand and life in the other keeping them separate, yet God wants us to understand that they should actually blend. Thus in the midst of our intelligence concerning the Word of God, we lose sense of what is truly important. We dont necessarily consider the common thread that caused us to come together as friends or as brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of what we know or can understand. We thought we came together because of our compatibilities concerning our Christian walk and scriptural understanding, but God orchestrates His will in the background concerning everything we do. Therefore, we have not necessarily realized that the common thread that we share happens to be God, not our Christian walk or even the written ink in the book, for God has His purpose.

Please understand that I am not minimizing the Bible at all, I am simply saying that God never meant His Word to be received, perceived nor understood from the perspective of anyones brain. He created the Bible for the benefit of spiritual understanding. He told us to restructure our spiritual minds according to His Word and to teach the flesh that it may follow suit to the spirit. The flesh following suit to the spirit would be to conduct physically your life according to what the Word of God says. If we stop at the letter and endeavor to compare our notes according to the letter, yet do not persevere in bridging and blending the Word of God into our very lives, then we have not moved beyond the flesh at all. In other words, the written Word has taken no spiritual root in our heart. Only the excitement of emotionalism and sensationalism, which is often confused with the Spiritual presence of God, is experienced. Christians are reading and taking in the Word of God according to their intellectual understanding. The result of this is that separation forms in the body of Christ and our relationships with one another end up destroyed. People and churches compartmentalize themselves and keep to their own. The one body becomes a body that is splintered and shattered into pieces. Unity fails and because there is division, Satan is able to take rule. Over the centuries, such results have played an essential role in the tearing down of Christianity and the rebuilding of the apostate church. This apostate church is not only hidden behind the walls of the building, it is also within the homes of countless thousands of people who left the brick and mortar church for reasons of disagreement. Many who have left the church and set up church in their homes have taken with them the same judgmental spirit that was in the church.

I once heard a young man speaking about having a relationship with God. He used marriage as an analogy, but I think that what he spoke about can be used in just about any instance. What he said I thought to be very profound. He said that sometimes a husband and wifes relationship with God is like an upright angle. God is at the top, the husband represents one leg, and the wife represents the other. Even though they may not always agree on things, they nevertheless seek God. As they do this, God draws them closer to Him in relationship and revelation. As the pair draw closer to God they draw closer to one another until eventually they blend as one at the apex with God. The Lord told us in advance that all His people fall short and obviously, we do, rather it is in sin, knowledge, love, worship, and even within our relationship with Him. I believe that all of Gods people are at various places in Him, yet he loves them all. People who truly seek God and righteousness are on a multitude of different levels. I also happen to believe that one level in Christ is not necessarily better than another one, for each level serves a purpose and God is a respecter of the heart. I do believe however, that it is important not to become complacent at any level with God for reasons noted in this article. Because He is a respecter of the heart and not the person, this tells us that His view of our heart is more important than what we could ever come to either know or understand concerning our endeavors of study and worship. I am not debunking study and worship; I am simple speaking about Gods order.

Once I had a vision and in that vision, I was lifted high above the earth. Peering into the depth of space something caught my eye. I saw an unusually bright light come into view from a very great distance. Initially this light was as small as a pebble in space, for its distance from me was great. The sphere of light however, grew in size as it rapidly approached. The closer it moved toward me the brighter it became. Eventually its size became greater than the sun and the brightness of it illuminated the blackness of space. High above and well beyond earths orbit it eventually hovered. Indescribable as it was, it was the most beautiful thing I had had ever seen. Laser-like rays emanated from the light and streamed down all over the earth. The appearance was like the occasional heavenly facade of rays from the sun emanating through enormous storm clouds in the sky. I knew that the light represented Christ and that the beams, which rained down represented His illumination of those who were seeking Him. The people were from all walks of life and even though their knowledge and understanding, forms of worship, places and levels in their relationship with Christ varied, all of them shared one common thing. Each of them had a sincere heart toward Christ. They didnt know everything, some knew very little, some had even been led down horrendous paths concerning their understanding, but their hearts were nevertheless full of love toward Christ. They sought God day and night without cease. They consisted of the young, old, and every race, creed, and gender. They consisted of the rich and poor. And the Lord said to me, Do you see how all my people are scattered across the world, yet there are many clumps of groups and then there are many whom seem to be far off and away from others These are all my people and I love them just as I love you.

As the Lord showed me this, I remembered what Jesus said. He said, Think not that I have come to send peace, but a sword. There was a time when I thought that Jesus was only speaking about the separation between the sinner and the Christian, but Jesus was also speaking about separation between Christians. He never implied that just because two Christians would seek God that they would automatically agree with one another concerning their knowledge and understanding of Christ. I realized then the importance of separation, especially among Christians. I believe that even though we are all spiritually one in that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior in addition to our love and ability to seek God, seekers of God nevertheless have not yet arrived at a place of unity concerning their thoughts and understanding of Gods Word. In other words, we have not yet all been gathered together by Him through knowledge and understanding. He told us to seek His wisdom, but I believe that most people tend to seek their own wisdom and because we also tend to do this by way of the Bible, we call it Gods wisdom. Assembling ourselves with others, reading, studying, quoting, and reciting scripture, yet not doing what the Word says is not seeking Gods wisdom though many happen to believe that it actually is.

Because of our knowledge and understanding, we are scattered. We are like magnets that repulse instead of attract regardless of our attempts to connect. To some degree, we may even get very close to one another, but the connection does not necessarily work. One may mention something concerning God and another may say, Well thats not what the Lord is speaking to me, yet both may be correct. I believe that a separation has to exist because we are all at different places and levels with God. One place or level is not necessarily greater than the other for the Lord is a respecter of the heart not our knowledge even though He tells us to get understanding. Getting understanding is a process, which ushers us toward Him. In one capacity or another, those who are truly seeking God are being ushered toward Him in truth, knowledge, and understandingHis Wisdomyet within the process, we may not agree with one another in our knowledge and understanding. We do not have the fullness of revelation in our knowledge and understanding pertaining to Gods Word. However, eventually in Gods time we will all agree. When we get to that place, I dont think it will be an issue of who was right or wrong concerning our knowledge or interpretation of the Word of God. The issue will be about God and the depth of His Word, which we did not know at that given time, nor could we have comprehended it.

The light that I saw streaming down to earth came down in angled slants across the world. In reference to the analogy about the angle that I mentioned earlier, if you consider the base of an angle there is always a distance between the two legs, yet each leg connects to the apex. The legs themselves are located in different places and do not intersect at the base. However, they will intersect later at the apex. The fact that they will intersect later is far more important than the separation of the two legs at the base. Nevertheless, God told us that where two or more are gathered together in His name, He would be in the midst of them. This is true even when two Christians who do not necessarily agree in their knowledge come together in praise, worship, and dedication in prayer to God. The presence of the Holy Spirit is in their midst because He views them from the vantage of the apex, and not at the base where they stand apart from one another. Real Christians stand fast, and are immovable in what they know until God moves them. They abide in God in every endeavor as they know how according to what they have been taught by the Holy Spirit. The place we stand with God is vital because it is a form of obedience. God even says that when you know you are right, it is not always necessary to boast what you know to others, but to keep it between yourself and Him so that you would not cause others to stumble in their walk with God. Their place and timing in Him may be different from yours, but in perfect harmony and synchronicity with God. Unless there is a spiritual disagreement, where one chooses not to follow Christ but Satan, who are we to question another persons place with God When did God ever make such an intimate relationship between Himself and another your business Christians tend to get themselves into trouble because they do not view each other from Gods point of view. They view each other from the perspective of their separation or distance forgetting about the fact that they are nevertheless connected to God at the place they have yet to reachthe apex. Though Christians may stand in different places concerning their knowledge in Christ, the underlying commonality that is often not seen nor understood is that far above their relationship with one another at the apex, is God.

On some level and probably because of our nature of sin, we are compelled to seek agreement and approval from others. Seeking such endorsements is a very typical thing that most Christians tend to do especially when it concerns our families, friendships, and acceptance from those we respect in the church, etc. It gives us a foundation in that we feel as though we are in line with the consensus that we deem important. For the most part, it is why people attend the churches they do and maintain their Christian relationships with their fellow Christian brothers and sisters. We seek out churches and people that we can agree with and vice versa in our Christian walk. We dont want to run the risk of being proverbially stoned, ridiculed, and ostracized so either we conform to mainstream or we at least seek out those who agree with us and quickly abandon those who dont. We do not necessarily allow God to direct us to that given church or place us before that given person for His purpose. As Christians, we rejoice when we agree, yet agonize when we dont. Concerning our relationship with Christ, I believe that we should be rejoicing all the time because the bottom line is that we are bound to Christ regardless of our connection to one another, which is usually predicated upon our agreement of knowledge. In other words, it is not our knowledge that proves us, but our hearts toward Christ. If our heart is what interests God, then why should our interest in one another be any different Our interest toward one another however is different from His. Christians often have the best relationships among each other when they can agree upon their knowledge concerning the Word of God, but let them not agree and see what happens. Disagreement does not automatically imply that one is serving God and the other demons. God said, Can two walk together except they be agreed Perhaps many Christians do not realize that they do actually agree. They only think they dont because they esteem what they know intellectually greater than what God has instructed them to do. They esteem the letter of the word greater than the Rhema, which is the revelation and foundation of life.

I believe that God deliberately keeps many of His followers separated in the natural because if He bunched us all up together, we would become worse than even the apostate church. How many times have you experienced ridicule or ostracism from Christians because perhaps you chose to leave a church, or because you did not agree with certain aspects of what someone said or taught Were the people who came against you devil worshipers Probably not. Where they way ward Christians From their point of view, chances are likely that this was also not the case, but what about from our point of view. How do we view people who disagree with us I know many Christians, for instance, some of whom I was very close to who actually believe today that both my wife and myself are backslidden because we left their church. Well, were not backslidden any more than they consider themselves way ward Christians. In another instance, we met a couple who actually adored us. In fact, they even gave us honorable mention on their website and promoted my book because they were in agreement with what we believed. One day however, we found disagreement and everything quickly changed. All of a sudden, it was as if we were not only no longer hearing from God, but that my wife and I had also taken a spiritual sabbatical toward Satan as well. The loving relationship collapsed just as fast as it was built. They removed most of my articles from their website and even deleted their promotional information about my book. The irony about this is that they read the book, actually agreed with it, and promoted it to friends and loved ones, yet when they found disagreement, they removed their advertisement of the book regardless of the fact that others could have been blessed by it. The fact that they found disagreement took precedence over what God may have wanted to do through our relationship. Had my wife and I actually stepped off some proverbial cliff concerning our understanding in relation to Christ No, we simply found disagreement in what we understood concerning scripture. We simply stood in different places with God, but all of us still pursued God. How could our disagreement ever change that

On another note, consider what Jesus told us to do in the book of Matthew. He said Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. Jesus was saying that this is how we should handle sinners. How can it be even remotely possible to obey this commandment when we cannot even love our brothers and sisters in Christ when they disagree with us Yet, Christians tend to believe that they are being righteous when they turn away from one another due to their disagreements concerning God and scripture.

I dont believe that God speaks one thing to an individual and then speaks something else to another. He speaks His Word to all. His Word does not have variations, nor does it change. It is solid, eternal, and alive. Because His Word is alive, it has depth and immensity. We could not live enough lifetimes to experience the depth or vastness of God, yet we tend to judge one another according to our depth of knowledge concerning Christ, which is miniscule in comparison to whom He is. God does not give us more than He knows we can handle. Some things people are not ready to hear. Many times Jesus told His disciples that there were things He wanted to share with them, but they were not ready to hear it. In other words, had He spoken to them what they were not ready to process they would not have known how to make sense of it, thus it would have hindered them as opposed to helped them. Maybe there were things Jesus didnt say to them because if He had it would have fried their brains. They would not have known how to receive it spiritually. Through our seeking Christ, God allows us to go through experiences in life where we can finally come to that place of being able to decipher what He speaks. Unless He imparts revelation on the spot, chances are that He will have you grow into understanding through a life experience. Therefore, we receive the Word, but through different levels of understanding, which is why there has to be separation. Its kind of like different races fearing or being intimidated by one another because they dont necessarily understand each other, yet they came from the same source. Its about going back to the source, which is God. Its about the angle of relationship between you and me, between us and other Christians. Instead of viewing others from the perspective of the base of the angle, we need to understand that we are nevertheless connected to God because we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and have vowed to follow and obey Christ at all cost.

I dont think that it is necessarily Gods desire to keep His people separated, but until we can get to that place where our relationships are not about what we know, but about Jesus, we will remain separated. I believe He does this for our own good. It may also serve as a purpose to protect us from attempting to follow what we are not ready to receive, let alone a possible untruth. A Christian sister for instance, insisted that Christianity today is actually spiritual Israel, and that all Christians are actually the Jewish nation in the eyes of God and that the abomination of desolation and tribulation as described in the books of Daniel, Matthew, Thessalonians, Revelation, and so many other books, have already taken place. She based her belief upon what she understood according to the Word of God. Well, based upon what I understood from the word of God, I didnt agree with her. The Lord had not told me this. He had not shown me this in scripture or through any form of confirmation, yet this did not necessarily mean that I was automatically correct in my view anymore than she may have been automatically wrong in her view. If we are both truly seeking God, He will bring us to that place where the agreement will be with Him and in that agreement she and I will too agree. The point is that before our disagreement, we had an awesome rapport and relationship with one another. Once we found that we did not agree, the relationship changed. One disagreement often leads to many more because we base our understanding of the Word of God upon what we know and understand concerning the Word of God. Thus, from the point of our disagreement, what more could we possibly talk about that wouldnt eventually lead to the next disagreement I believe that this general scenario is what many Christians face in their relationships toward one another. God did say after all, Can two walk together less they agree Another way of putting it, is how far can two walk together if they dont agree

God instructed us to get wisdom, for it is the principle thing. But what if the wisdom is actually not about us adding higher notches to our belts concerning our spiritual depth, knowledge and understanding, but purely about the heart of God. What if the wisdom is about us being silent and letting Him do all the talking, even amongst one another Sometimes I think it would be better if we were silent because we Christians tend to spout what we know, instead of truly edifying and praising God in one accord. In fact, sometimes when we spout what we know we even tend to think that this is edifying God and praising Him in one accord, yet what happens when we dont agree Can we honestly say that our relationships with one another as Christians are predicated upon unconditional love If we say that they are, then why do they fall apart as soon as we disagree

There is a person who works where I work and he too is a minister of God. We have a good, yet unusual relationship. What I mean by that for example is that when he was in the process of reading my book, whenever he read what he could agree with we would have wonderful conversations and all was well. Whenever he read what he could not agree with, he would avoid me like the plague. I found this out because I finally came out and asked him what was going on and he admitted that there were things he did not agree with. I guess I have never understood why such a barrier has to exist. What changed I never asked him to follow me, and I never told him that I would follow him. My focus has always been God. Whether I am right or wrong in my understanding, God will direct me and correct me simply because I ask Him to. He may even do this through a friend, but He will also give me confirmation where His Spirit in me will bear witness in truth, and thus I will be inclined to change because I love Him. Yet even this is still all in Gods purpose and timing. With my friend, one moment as far as he was concerned I was most definitely hearing from God; the next moment, it was as if I was somewhere lost in a field, which even God Himself couldnt find. Well, either we hear from God or we dont. I realize that I am just a simple man who is certainly capable of missing it, but this does not reduce my relationship with God, nor should it give anyone the right to assume that I am perhaps not hearing from God.

If God judged us according to our knowledge, wed all be in trouble. His knowledge of course steers us toward righteousness, which is why it is the principle thing to get. But the scope of His knowledge, which we are to seek is Alpha and Omega. Somewhere in the vastness of that space is where we are. We could literally spend lifetimes there and never see each other once. Therefore, I dont believe that we should necessarily concern ourselves with our knowledge as much as our love toward Christ and one another. Gods first commandment was to love Him and then we were to love one another. What usually happens when Christians cannot agree with one another concerning their knowledge is wedges began to form. Separation again takes place because in some respects if it did not, there would be war. Would you agree that people tend to feel personally wounded when a brother or sister in Christ of whom they love and respect (or even those they dont know) rejects or disagrees with their knowledge and understanding I can personally vouch that my wife and myself have certainly had our share of disputes, but the wonderful thing about this is that somehow the Lord always brings us to the same place of understanding. This may not happen in a day or even several months, but it happens. Then of course, we get new revelation and we go through the whole thing again. The results however end up the same because nevertheless we both seek Christ. Perhaps God works things out faster in our marriages because we actually have to live together and spend our days and nights together. In our Christian relationships regarding disagreements, the relationship usually dies not because this is Gods desire but because we get in His way.

Honestly, we do want to be heard, we want people to agree with us and oftentimes we even take it very personally when this doesnt happen. Some are even shattered in their confidence concerning their Christian walk when another is not in agreement with them. We seek out those who are in agreement with us, and sever ourselves from those who dont agree. Is this not exactly what has happened in the world, which we live today especially among Christians Denominations and believers of different churches all over the world in addition to those who do not belong to a church believe that their knowledge and doctrine is right, yet none of it (that is our belief system based on our knowledge) actually has anything to do with the wisdom and love of God. If it did, feelings wouldnt get hurt. Relationships between those who actually love and adore God would not be threatened. There would be no bickering, fighting, ostracisms, and ridicule among Christians. Since when did such things become associated with Jesus We are all one body of Christ, who happens to be a monumentally huge God. As the Word of God says in the book of Psalm, He did position the stars with His fingers, after all. Thus, from His perspective, what do we know Yet we boast about the things we know and may even question the love others have toward God because they dont necessarily stand where we do in our relationship with Christ. The general attitude is that because they do not necessarily agree with us, they are obviously missing it. Clearly, this is not what God would construe as unconditional love according to His Word, but judgment.

To some degree, I believe this is why many Christians have found themselves seemingly alienated not only from the world, which is as it should be, but also even from the people in the church body and from those who have left the church, yet remain faithful to Christ. From Gods perspective however, I believe that we are not alienated. From His perspective, we are in one accord in our rejoicing, worship and praise toward Him. Spiritually, we may have different geographies, but we are nevertheless connected to God even though we may not necessarily be connected to one another mentally (like two sides of an angle at the base). As we continue to seek God, our geography in addition to our knowledge will eventually become one place. In other words, we may disagree about some things today, but one day there wont be any disagreements, for we will have all come into the fullness of God. I am speaking about eternity here, not just the vaporous moments of our lives on earth.

Jesus said that He came to show those who say they can see, just how blind they are. Yet, we believe we see because we have our sights on the written letter. The Bible says that the letter killeth. The letter keeps us blind not only in our relationship with Christ, but towards one another as well. Because many Christians cannot agree on what the letter says their relationships among each other die. I think we have to remember that our understanding is not the absolute, God is. We can only go as far in our understanding as our hearts will allow. Our hearts, spiritual as it may be, is still bound to some degree by the nature of what is on us, which is sin. We are still men and women of flesh and therefore linked to carnality. Carnality will always get in the way. It will always distort to some degree the knowledge, so God consistently works with us via the Holy Spirit. Regardless of where we stand on any issue concerning our knowledge in Christ, we can still rejoice in Him with one another in spirit because we know that the longevity of our sight upon Christ is the same. Our desired destination with Him is the same. Our love toward Him is the same, and we share the same Father and long to be with Him forever. Its all about Him, not us. Maybe the Lord purposely allows us to come to such places with our brothers and sisters in Christ i.e., disagreements, etc., to see if we can prevail through love regardless of our differences and disagreements.

All Christians boast about their love toward Jesus, but how strong is our love toward our brothers and sisters in Christ Does our love toward one another transcend the written ink in the book Is it only predicated upon the fact that we classify ourselves as Christians God said that His love conquers all things. Should this not include even our disagreements over scripture What are they in comparison to our devotion to Christ and how do we love Christ without also loving one another

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Read more from Rick D. Wynn in his book: It's Not About You A Study of the Last Church Generation: What Every Christian Should Know Vol. 1. (www.tatepublishing.com). In the pages of Rick D Wynn's entrancing book "It's Not About You," some of the most thought provoking questions in the hearts of people around the world are addressed. Now available also at E-store Websites and Bookstores. Rick D. Wynn can be contacted at Callto_Glory@yahoo.com.

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The Pharisees, convinced by their own confidence of righteousness, believed with absolute certainty that they were right in accordance to their knowledge and understanding of God and that even Jesus was wrong. Before Jesus arrived on the scene, the Pharisees were at work deciphering the scriptures of Moses and the prophets. They knew the oracles of God, could recite them, and understood the prophecies that spoke of the coming Messiah. In the midst of their knowledge, they became complacent with God. They esteemed the letter above God. In other words, they esteemed their scrolls higher than the life, which God was speaking of in the oracles. Confident in their own understanding, they thrived on their egocentrism, self-righteousness, stature, and prestige. They loved the adoration of those who agreed with them and ostracized, persecuted and even stoned to death those who did not. Adamantly fixed in their conviction concerning what they knew, they did not recognize Jesus the Messiah whom they had studied about in the scriptures. They cast Him down, called Him evil, and eventually hung Him on a cross to be crucified. 
 
Sometimes it is necessary to look up from the written words in the Bible to appreciate Gods relevancy to life. In our Christian relationships, perhaps often it does not occur to us that everything God speaks about in the Bible concerns not only life in the time that the word was written, but also the life that we are living today. He told us to be perfect as He is perfect. In other words, Gods desire is that our lives be a reflection of what He says. Therefore, we need to know how the Bible is relevant to our lives, other wise it becomes nothing more than simply flat words in a book. Because the Word of God is life, it is imperative that we receive and understand His Word from the perspective of life, not from the perspective of the letter in the book. How does Gods Word apply to our lives Should the foundation of our lives be based upon the Spirit or carnality The Word says that the letter killeth, but that the Spirit giveth life. If we endeavor to live our lives and build our relationships upon the written words in the book without the understanding that the Word of God is life, then we become susceptible to living and esteeming the letter of the word as opposed to the Spirit, which is life. 
 
Have you ever known Christians who quote scripture all the time, yet their lives do not reflect at all what they tend to quote Many people routinely read the Bible, yet have little to no relationship at all with Christ. In likewise fashion, people quote scriptures to one another during their times of fellowship and within their relationships but they never get around to actually getting to know one another on a personal or even spiritual level, yet they equate their relationship to love. In other words, they do not internalize the Word of God spiritually that it may germinate as a spiritual seed producing everlasting fruit; instead, they receive the Word from the perspective of their carnal understanding. Because they trust in their understanding, they lack in faith, yet call themselves spiritual. Thus, their lives never excel beyond what they can perceive or expect intellectually. Faith comes by hearing and understanding the Word of God, which can only be understood spiritually. People who lack faith rely on their intellectualism. In fact, some people confuse their intellectualism with faith. Being a Christian, living, and conducting yourself in life according to Gods instructions go hand and hand. It is true that Jesus quoted Scripture, but He demonstrated everything He said by way of His life. 
 
Many Christians tend to become only caught up in the scriptures. They are excellent hearers, but not doers. They memorize and recite scripture at every opportunity, but their lives do not necessarily reflect or honor Jesus, though they think it does because of their ability to flow Scripture off their tongues like a river of words. Jesus even said that our lips give Him praise, but our hearts are far removed from what our lips speak. I believe that multitudes of people are turning away from God because the church speaks at them from the perspective of the ink on the pages as opposed to the Bibles relevancy to life. Today, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find distinction between the mindset of the church and that of the secular world. Even many leaders behind pulpits today do not necessarily understand that the Bible is the revelation of life. People may speak, teach, and preach the Bible, but very few actually live it. Christian relationships are quickly built upon the excitement of agreement concerning the knowledge of scripture, but are torn down just as fast because of disagreement concerning the knowledge of scripture. In other words, the relationships are not predicated upon unconditional love as God commanded, they are predicated upon carnal understanding pertaining to the scriptures in the book. The foundations of most Christian relationships are predicated upon the agreement of interpretation concerning the Word of God. 
 
Perhaps it is difficult for us to relate the letter in the book to life because the wisdom and knowledge we learned in church concerning the Bible often gets in the way. In other words, we learned the Bible in the fashion that it was taught. Many leaders speak or preach at us the Bible and its principles, but they do not teach nor even mention much about actually living it out. Therefore, people are not learning about Christ from the perspective of being doers of what He says; they learn about Him only from the perspective of what they hear the Christian preacher or teacher say. If one spends four years in a college institution, he may graduate with a degree, but His degree is only relative to his academic understanding and achievement. What he knows and understands is primarily based upon theory, calculation, and speculation, but not actual life experience. I had a job once where I was told that if I wanted to excel it would be much better for me if I were to forget what I had learned in my college courses. Much of what I learned was not necessarily in vain; some of it actually did come in handy, but concerning the job, what I learned academically had very little bearing on real life practice. In other words, life tends to go much deeper than what seems to suffice on paper. Sometimes our life experiences may dictate that we must unlearn or discard what we learned academically in order to excel spiritually. 
 
Ink written letters in a book cannot sum up dimensional life. The written letters in the Bible for instance, serve as a guideline in order to grasp the Rhema or spoken Word of God. Most people do not progress beyond the written letters to understand that God actually speaks. He actually gives us physical experiences through what is written. I attended a church service once where the pastor asked the congregation to hold up their sword. Just about every person in the church, including the pastor, grabbed a bible and held it up. In other words, he indirectly taught his congregation that in the event of spiritual warfare, one could simply use the bible as say a crucifix against such evil like in the movies where the hero wards of the vampire with the crucifix. At the very least, perhaps one could recite scripture from the bible and the battle would immediately cease. Even the pastor himself did not understand that the bible was not the sword, that actually the Word of God spoken from his own lips in faith was the sword. Because He didnt know this, neither did his congregation. Because Christians can recite, intellectualize the letter, and remember the location of scripture in the Bible, for instance, many assume they have a foundation of faith. They presumptuously characterize themselves as having understanding, wisdom, and unconditional love toward their brethren. 
 
In our Christian relationships we are usually inclined to spout what we know concerning scripture because we want other Christians to know how spiritual and holy we are. We also love and crave the acceptance of others. The more spiritual and holy we perceive each other to be in our Christian relationships, the stronger the relationships tend to become. We love the complements, praise, and flattery we receive as we agree in our recitals and rebuttals concerning scripture. Many Christians also tend to believe that assembling themselves with others in this fashion is beneficial for the praise and worship of God, but is the attention and adoration that we are so compelled to seek from one another actually relevant to God In all honesty, who actually gets the praise, God or us Many Christian relationships formed in this manner can only be superficial in nature because they are predicated upon agreement concerning scriptural knowledge and understanding. In such instances, even our reverence of Jesus tends to be a mere intellectual acclamation or form of tradition (Isaiah 29:13). In other words, people cite scriptures believing that doing such makes them holier in the eyes of God, yet they have little to no revelation of what they are reciting. Their lives (from Gods point of view) do not reflect the Word of God. The letter of the word consumes their heart, but they live their lives independent of what God actually tells them to do. Jesus spoke of this very kind of reverence being the epitome of the Pharisees relationship with God (Mark 7:6-7). 
 
I met a person through the Internet who loved the Lord. In fact, she not only diligently studied the Word but actually quoted and recited scriptures in just about every sentence, yet she actually said that she really didnt have a desire of getting to know people, that she would much rather prefer to just talk about the Lord. Well, we can talk about the Lord until we are blue in the face, but if we never get around to doing what the Lord says, then all the talk amounts only to vanity. God summed up all His commandments into one commandment where He told us to love one another. How do we do this as Christians when we are not even interested in getting to know one another Have you ever sat among a congregation in a church where hardly anyone spoke to or even acknowledge another When the service ends, people quietly pile out or only speak to the familiar. This person and her husband often spoke about how much they loved and adored my wife and me yet they had little interest in us other than the fact that we were Christians. Whenever Id try discussing things pertinent to our lives, or ask them questions about theirs, they would always direct the conversation back to the scriptures. The Word of God tells us that there is a time for everything. For instance, there is a time to discuss scriptures, and there is a time to discuss life even though they both go hand in hand. If we never get around to developing relationships because were too busy being holy, how do we discern the hearts of those we say we love When we are oblivious to other peoples hearts, it becomes very easy to judge them whenever there is disagreement. This couple followed the letter of the word in loving us, but they didnt love us with their hearts. The depth of their love was only the ink in the book. Because they didnt know our hearts, they judged us and severed the relationship when we disagreed. People tend to allow their agreements or disagreements between them to take precedence over Jesus commandment to love unconditionally. Thus, we easily form loving friendships when we agree, yet easily repel and destroy such relationships when we do not agree. How does unconditional love fit into this scenario 
 
In Amos 3:3 God said, Can two walk together except they be agreed Concerning our Christian walk, I believe that it is safe to say that we already have a foundational spiritual agreement. Those who have truly accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior in addition to endeavoring to follow Christ and obey His commandments have this foundational agreement. Is it not true that their hearts are toward God as opposed to Satan Are we not also in spiritual agreement if we endeavor to love Him as He commanded in addition to loving each other unconditionally despite our own personal disagreements concerning what we know intellectually or even spiritually Who has arrived in their understanding toward God spiritually I certainly have not and I would venture to say that neither have you. Thus, pertaining to such understanding, how could we ever not agree We tend to hold the bible in one hand and life in the other keeping them separate, yet God wants us to understand that they should actually blend. Thus in the midst of our intelligence concerning the Word of God, we lose sense of what is truly important. We dont necessarily consider the common thread that caused us to come together as friends or as brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of what we know or can understand. We thought we came together because of our compatibilities concerning our Christian walk and scriptural understanding, but God orchestrates His will in the background concerning everything we do. Therefore, we have not necessarily realized that the common thread that we share happens to be God, not our Christian walk or even the written ink in the book, for God has His purpose. 
 
Please understand that I am not minimizing the Bible at all, I am simply saying that God never meant His Word to be received, perceived nor understood from the perspective of anyones brain. He created the Bible for the benefit of spiritual understanding. He told us to restructure our spiritual minds according to His Word and to teach the flesh that it may follow suit to the spirit. The flesh following suit to the spirit would be to conduct physically your life according to what the Word of God says. If we stop at the letter and endeavor to compare our notes according to the letter, yet do not persevere in bridging and blending the Word of God into our very lives, then we have not moved beyond the flesh at all. In other words, the written Word has taken no spiritual root in our heart. Only the excitement of emotionalism and sensationalism, which is often confused with the Spiritual presence of God, is experienced. Christians are reading and taking in the Word of God according to their intellectual understanding. The result of this is that separation forms in the body of Christ and our relationships with one another end up destroyed. People and churches compartmentalize themselves and keep to their own. The one body becomes a body that is splintered and shattered into pieces. Unity fails and because there is division, Satan is able to take rule. Over the centuries, such results have played an essential role in the tearing down of Christianity and the rebuilding of the apostate church. This apostate church is not only hidden behind the walls of the building, it is also within the homes of countless thousands of people who left the brick and mortar church for reasons of disagreement. Many who have left the church and set up church in their homes have taken with them the same judgmental spirit that was in the church. 
 
I once heard a young man speaking about having a relationship with God. He used marriage as an analogy, but I think that what he spoke about can be used in just about any instance. What he said I thought to be very profound. He said that sometimes a husband and wifes relationship with God is like an upright angle. God is at the top, the husband represents one leg, and the wife represents the other. Even though they may not always agree on things, they nevertheless seek God. As they do this, God draws them closer to Him in relationship and revelation. As the pair draw closer to God they draw closer to one another until eventually they blend as one at the apex with God. The Lord told us in advance that all His people fall short and obviously, we do, rather it is in sin, knowledge, love, worship, and even within our relationship with Him. I believe that all of Gods people are at various places in Him, yet he loves them all. People who truly seek God and righteousness are on a multitude of different levels. I also happen to believe that one level in Christ is not necessarily better than another one, for each level serves a purpose and God is a respecter of the heart. I do believe however, that it is important not to become complacent at any level with God for reasons noted in this article. Because He is a respecter of the heart and not the person, this tells us that His view of our heart is more important than what we could ever come to either know or understand concerning our endeavors of study and worship. I am not debunking study and worship; I am simple speaking about Gods order. 
 
Once I had a vision and in that vision, I was lifted high above the earth. Peering into the depth of space something caught my eye. I saw an unusually bright light come into view from a very great distance. Initially this light was as small as a pebble in space, for its distance from me was great. The sphere of light however, grew in size as it rapidly approached. The closer it moved toward me the brighter it became. Eventually its size became greater than the sun and the brightness of it illuminated the blackness of space. High above and well beyond earths orbit it eventually hovered. Indescribable as it was, it was the most beautiful thing I had had ever seen. Laser-like rays emanated from the light and streamed down all over the earth. The appearance was like the occasional heavenly facade of rays from the sun emanating through enormous storm clouds in the sky. I knew that the light represented Christ and that the beams, which rained down represented His illumination of those who were seeking Him. The people were from all walks of life and even though their knowledge and understanding, forms of worship, places and levels in their relationship with Christ varied, all of them shared one common thing. Each of them had a sincere heart toward Christ. They didnt know everything, some knew very little, some had even been led down horrendous paths concerning their understanding, but their hearts were nevertheless full of love toward Christ. They sought God day and night without cease. They consisted of the young, old, and every race, creed, and gender. They consisted of the rich and poor. And the Lord said to me, Do you see how all my people are scattered across the world, yet there are many clumps of groups and then there are many whom seem to be far off and away from others These are all my people and I love them just as I love you. 
 
As the Lord showed me this, I remembered what Jesus said. He said, Think not that I have come to send peace, but a sword. There was a time when I thought that Jesus was only speaking about the separation between the sinner and the Christian, but Jesus was also speaking about separation between Christians. He never implied that just because two Christians would seek God that they would automatically agree with one another concerning their knowledge and understanding of Christ. I realized then the importance of separation, especially among Christians. I believe that even though we are all spiritually one in that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior in addition to our love and ability to seek God, seekers of God nevertheless have not yet arrived at a place of unity concerning their thoughts and understanding of Gods Word. In other words, we have not yet all been gathered together by Him through knowledge and understanding. He told us to seek His wisdom, but I believe that most people tend to seek their own wisdom and because we also tend to do this by way of the Bible, we call it Gods wisdom. Assembling ourselves with others, reading, studying, quoting, and reciting scripture, yet not doing what the Word says is not seeking Gods wisdom though many happen to believe that it actually is. 
 
Because of our knowledge and understanding, we are scattered. We are like magnets that repulse instead of attract regardless of our attempts to connect. To some degree, we may even get very close to one another, but the connection does not necessarily work. One may mention something concerning God and another may say, Well thats not what the Lord is speaking to me, yet both may be correct. I believe that a separation has to exist because we are all at different places and levels with God. One place or level is not necessarily greater than the other for the Lord is a respecter of the heart not our knowledge even though He tells us to get understanding. Getting understanding is a process, which ushers us toward Him. In one capacity or another, those who are truly seeking God are being ushered toward Him in truth, knowledge, and understandingHis Wisdomyet within the process, we may not agree with one another in our knowledge and understanding. We do not have the fullness of revelation in our knowledge and understanding pertaining to Gods Word. However, eventually in Gods time we will all agree. When we get to that place, I dont think it will be an issue of who was right or wrong concerning our knowledge or interpretation of the Word of God. The issue will be about God and the depth of His Word, which we did not know at that given time, nor could we have comprehended it. 
 
The light that I saw streaming down to earth came down in angled slants across the world. In reference to the analogy about the angle that I mentioned earlier, if you consider the base of an angle there is always a distance between the two legs, yet each leg connects to the apex. The legs themselves are located in different places and do not intersect at the base. However, they will intersect later at the apex. The fact that they will intersect later is far more important than the separation of the two legs at the base. Nevertheless, God told us that where two or more are gathered together in His name, He would be in the midst of them. This is true even when two Christians who do not necessarily agree in their knowledge come together in praise, worship, and dedication in prayer to God. The presence of the Holy Spirit is in their midst because He views them from the vantage of the apex, and not at the base where they stand apart from one another. Real Christians stand fast, and are immovable in what they know until God moves them. They abide in God in every endeavor as they know how according to what they have been taught by the Holy Spirit. The place we stand with God is vital because it is a form of obedience. God even says that when you know you are right, it is not always necessary to boast what you know to others, but to keep it between yourself and Him so that you would not cause others to stumble in their walk with God. Their place and timing in Him may be different from yours, but in perfect harmony and synchronicity with God. Unless there is a spiritual disagreement, where one chooses not to follow Christ but Satan, who are we to question another persons place with God When did God ever make such an intimate relationship between Himself and another your business Christians tend to get themselves into trouble because they do not view each other from Gods point of view. They view each other from the perspective of their separation or distance forgetting about the fact that they are nevertheless connected to God at the place they have yet to reachthe apex. Though Christians may stand in different places concerning their knowledge in Christ, the underlying commonality that is often not seen nor understood is that far above their relationship with one another at the apex, is God. 
 
On some level and probably because of our nature of sin, we are compelled to seek agreement and approval from others. Seeking such endorsements is a very typical thing that most Christians tend to do especially when it concerns our families, friendships, and acceptance from those we respect in the church, etc. It gives us a foundation in that we feel as though we are in line with the consensus that we deem important. For the most part, it is why people attend the churches they do and maintain their Christian relationships with their fellow Christian brothers and sisters. We seek out churches and people that we can agree with and vice versa in our Christian walk. We dont want to run the risk of being proverbially stoned, ridiculed, and ostracized so either we conform to mainstream or we at least seek out those who agree with us and quickly abandon those who dont. We do not necessarily allow God to direct us to that given church or place us before that given person for His purpose. As Christians, we rejoice when we agree, yet agonize when we dont. Concerning our relationship with Christ, I believe that we should be rejoicing all the time because the bottom line is that we are bound to Christ regardless of our connection to one another, which is usually predicated upon our agreement of knowledge. In other words, it is not our knowledge that proves us, but our hearts toward Christ. If our heart is what interests God, then why should our interest in one another be any different Our interest toward one another however is different from His. Christians often have the best relationships among each other when they can agree upon their knowledge concerning the Word of God, but let them not agree and see what happens. Disagreement does not automatically imply that one is serving God and the other demons. God said, Can two walk together except they be agreed Perhaps many Christians do not realize that they do actually agree. They only think they dont because they esteem what they know intellectually greater than what God has instructed them to do. They esteem the letter of the word greater than the Rhema, which is the revelation and foundation of life. 
 
I believe that God deliberately keeps many of His followers separated in the natural because if He bunched us all up together, we would become worse than even the apostate church. How many times have you experienced ridicule or ostracism from Christians because perhaps you chose to leave a church, or because you did not agree with certain aspects of what someone said or taught Were the people who came against you devil worshipers Probably not. Where they way ward Christians From their point of view, chances are likely that this was also not the case, but what about from our point of view. How do we view people who disagree with us I know many Christians, for instance, some of whom I was very close to who actually believe today that both my wife and myself are backslidden because we left their church. Well, were not backslidden any more than they consider themselves way ward Christians. In another instance, we met a couple who actually adored us. In fact, they even gave us honorable mention on their website and promoted my book because they were in agreement with what we believed. One day however, we found disagreement and everything quickly changed. All of a sudden, it was as if we were not only no longer hearing from God, but that my wife and I had also taken a spiritual sabbatical toward Satan as well. The loving relationship collapsed just as fast as it was built. They removed most of my articles from their website and even deleted their promotional information about my book. The irony about this is that they read the book, actually agreed with it, and promoted it to friends and loved ones, yet when they found disagreement, they removed their advertisement of the book regardless of the fact that others could have been blessed by it. The fact that they found disagreement took precedence over what God may have wanted to do through our relationship. Had my wife and I actually stepped off some proverbial cliff concerning our understanding in relation to Christ No, we simply found disagreement in what we understood concerning scripture. We simply stood in different places with God, but all of us still pursued God. How could our disagreement ever change that 
 
On another note, consider what Jesus told us to do in the book of Matthew. He said Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. Jesus was saying that this is how we should handle sinners. How can it be even remotely possible to obey this commandment when we cannot even love our brothers and sisters in Christ when they disagree with us Yet, Christians tend to believe that they are being righteous when they turn away from one another due to their disagreements concerning God and scripture. 
 
I dont believe that God speaks one thing to an individual and then speaks something else to another. He speaks His Word to all. His Word does not have variations, nor does it change. It is solid, eternal, and alive. Because His Word is alive, it has depth and immensity. We could not live enough lifetimes to experience the depth or vastness of God, yet we tend to judge one another according to our depth of knowledge concerning Christ, which is miniscule in comparison to whom He is. God does not give us more than He knows we can handle. Some things people are not ready to hear. Many times Jesus told His disciples that there were things He wanted to share with them, but they were not ready to hear it. In other words, had He spoken to them what they were not ready to process they would not have known how to make sense of it, thus it would have hindered them as opposed to helped them. Maybe there were things Jesus didnt say to them because if He had it would have fried their brains. They would not have known how to receive it spiritually. Through our seeking Christ, God allows us to go through experiences in life where we can finally come to that place of being able to decipher what He speaks. Unless He imparts revelation on the spot, chances are that He will have you grow into understanding through a life experience. Therefore, we receive the Word, but through different levels of understanding, which is why there has to be separation. Its kind of like different races fearing or being intimidated by one another because they dont necessarily understand each other, yet they came from the same source. Its about going back to the source, which is God. Its about the angle of relationship between you and me, between us and other Christians. Instead of viewing others from the perspective of the base of the angle, we need to understand that we are nevertheless connected to God because we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and have vowed to follow and obey Christ at all cost. 
 
I dont think that it is necessarily Gods desire to keep His people separated, but until we can get to that place where our relationships are not about what we know, but about Jesus, we will remain separated. I believe He does this for our own good. It may also serve as a purpose to protect us from attempting to follow what we are not ready to receive, let alone a possible untruth. A Christian sister for instance, insisted that Christianity today is actually spiritual Israel, and that all Christians are actually the Jewish nation in the eyes of God and that the abomination of desolation and tribulation as described in the books of Daniel, Matthew, Thessalonians, Revelation, and so many other books, have already taken place. She based her belief upon what she understood according to the Word of God. Well, based upon what I understood from the word of God, I didnt agree with her. The Lord had not told me this. He had not shown me this in scripture or through any form of confirmation, yet this did not necessarily mean that I was automatically correct in my view anymore than she may have been automatically wrong in her view. If we are both truly seeking God, He will bring us to that place where the agreement will be with Him and in that agreement she and I will too agree. The point is that before our disagreement, we had an awesome rapport and relationship with one another. Once we found that we did not agree, the relationship changed. One disagreement often leads to many more because we base our understanding of the Word of God upon what we know and understand concerning the Word of God. Thus, from the point of our disagreement, what more could we possibly talk about that wouldnt eventually lead to the next disagreement I believe that this general scenario is what many Christians face in their relationships toward one another. God did say after all, Can two walk together less they agree Another way of putting it, is how far can two walk together if they dont agree 
 
God instructed us to get wisdom, for it is the principle thing. But what if the wisdom is actually not about us adding higher notches to our belts concerning our spiritual depth, knowledge and understanding, but purely about the heart of God. What if the wisdom is about us being silent and letting Him do all the talking, even amongst one another Sometimes I think it would be better if we were silent because we Christians tend to spout what we know, instead of truly edifying and praising God in one accord. In fact, sometimes when we spout what we know we even tend to think that this is edifying God and praising Him in one accord, yet what happens when we dont agree Can we honestly say that our relationships with one another as Christians are predicated upon unconditional love If we say that they are, then why do they fall apart as soon as we disagree 
 
There is a person who works where I work and he too is a minister of God. We have a good, yet unusual relationship. What I mean by that for example is that when he was in the process of reading my book, whenever he read what he could agree with we would have wonderful conversations and all was well. Whenever he read what he could not agree with, he would avoid me like the plague. I found this out because I finally came out and asked him what was going on and he admitted that there were things he did not agree with. I guess I have never understood why such a barrier has to exist. What changed I never asked him to follow me, and I never told him that I would follow him. My focus has always been God. Whether I am right or wrong in my understanding, God will direct me and correct me simply because I ask Him to. He may even do this through a friend, but He will also give me confirmation where His Spirit in me will bear witness in truth, and thus I will be inclined to change because I love Him. Yet even this is still all in Gods purpose and timing. With my friend, one moment as far as he was concerned I was most definitely hearing from God; the next moment, it was as if I was somewhere lost in a field, which even God Himself couldnt find. Well, either we hear from God or we dont. I realize that I am just a simple man who is certainly capable of missing it, but this does not reduce my relationship with God, nor should it give anyone the right to assume that I am perhaps not hearing from God. 
 
If God judged us according to our knowledge, wed all be in trouble. His knowledge of course steers us toward righteousness, which is why it is the principle thing to get. But the scope of His knowledge, which we are to seek is Alpha and Omega. Somewhere in the vastness of that space is where we are. We could literally spend lifetimes there and never see each other once. Therefore, I dont believe that we should necessarily concern ourselves with our knowledge as much as our love toward Christ and one another. Gods first commandment was to love Him and then we were to love one another. What usually happens when Christians cannot agree with one another concerning their knowledge is wedges began to form. Separation again takes place because in some respects if it did not, there would be war. Would you agree that people tend to feel personally wounded when a brother or sister in Christ of whom they love and respect (or even those they dont know) rejects or disagrees with their knowledge and understanding I can personally vouch that my wife and myself have certainly had our share of disputes, but the wonderful thing about this is that somehow the Lord always brings us to the same place of understanding. This may not happen in a day or even several months, but it happens. Then of course, we get new revelation and we go through the whole thing again. The results however end up the same because nevertheless we both seek Christ. Perhaps God works things out faster in our marriages because we actually have to live together and spend our days and nights together. In our Christian relationships regarding disagreements, the relationship usually dies not because this is Gods desire but because we get in His way. 
 
Honestly, we do want to be heard, we want people to agree with us and oftentimes we even take it very personally when this doesnt happen. Some are even shattered in their confidence concerning their Christian walk when another is not in agreement with them. We seek out those who are in agreement with us, and sever ourselves from those who dont agree. Is this not exactly what has happened in the world, which we live today especially among Christians Denominations and believers of different churches all over the world in addition to those who do not belong to a church believe that their knowledge and doctrine is right, yet none of it (that is our belief system based on our knowledge) actually has anything to do with the wisdom and love of God. If it did, feelings wouldnt get hurt. Relationships between those who actually love and adore God would not be threatened. There would be no bickering, fighting, ostracisms, and ridicule among Christians. Since when did such things become associated with Jesus We are all one body of Christ, who happens to be a monumentally huge God. As the Word of God says in the book of Psalm, He did position the stars with His fingers, after all. Thus, from His perspective, what do we know Yet we boast about the things we know and may even question the love others have toward God because they dont necessarily stand where we do in our relationship with Christ. The general attitude is that because they do not necessarily agree with us, they are obviously missing it. Clearly, this is not what God would construe as unconditional love according to His Word, but judgment. 
 
To some degree, I believe this is why many Christians have found themselves seemingly alienated not only from the world, which is as it should be, but also even from the people in the church body and from those who have left the church, yet remain faithful to Christ. From Gods perspective however, I believe that we are not alienated. From His perspective, we are in one accord in our rejoicing, worship and praise toward Him. Spiritually, we may have different geographies, but we are nevertheless connected to God even though we may not necessarily be connected to one another mentally (like two sides of an angle at the base). As we continue to seek God, our geography in addition to our knowledge will eventually become one place. In other words, we may disagree about some things today, but one day there wont be any disagreements, for we will have all come into the fullness of God. I am speaking about eternity here, not just the vaporous moments of our lives on earth. 
 
Jesus said that He came to show those who say they can see, just how blind they are. Yet, we believe we see because we have our sights on the written letter. The Bible says that the letter killeth. The letter keeps us blind not only in our relationship with Christ, but towards one another as well. Because many Christians cannot agree on what the letter says their relationships among each other die. I think we have to remember that our understanding is not the absolute, God is. We can only go as far in our understanding as our hearts will allow. Our hearts, spiritual as it may be, is still bound to some degree by the nature of what is on us, which is sin. We are still men and women of flesh and therefore linked to carnality. Carnality will always get in the way. It will always distort to some degree the knowledge, so God consistently works with us via the Holy Spirit. Regardless of where we stand on any issue concerning our knowledge in Christ, we can still rejoice in Him with one another in spirit because we know that the longevity of our sight upon Christ is the same. Our desired destination with Him is the same. Our love toward Him is the same, and we share the same Father and long to be with Him forever. Its all about Him, not us. Maybe the Lord purposely allows us to come to such places with our brothers and sisters in Christ i.e., disagreements, etc., to see if we can prevail through love regardless of our differences and disagreements. 
 
All Christians boast about their love toward Jesus, but how strong is our love toward our brothers and sisters in Christ Does our love toward one another transcend the written ink in the book Is it only predicated upon the fact that we classify ourselves as Christians God said that His love conquers all things. Should this not include even our disagreements over scripture What are they in comparison to our devotion to Christ and how do we love Christ without also loving one another 
 
The end. Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesoft.com" target="_blank">ArticleSoft.com</a> About the Author: Read more from Rick D. Wynn in his book: It's Not About You A Study of the Last Church Generation: What Every Christian Should Know Vol. 1. (www.tatepublishing.com). In the pages of Rick D Wynn's entrancing book "It's Not About You," some of the most thought provoking questions in the hearts of people around the world are addressed. Now available also at E-store Websites and Bookstores. Rick D. Wynn can be contacted at Callto_Glory@yahoo.com.