But Who is Wrong?

I have written before on the fact that denominations exist and suggested that Luke 9:49-50 may apply. The church exists all over the world and without being worldly minded people are products of their culture. There are many different flavors of Christianity and what one must believe to be saved is that Jesus is the Son of God, died for our sins and God raised him from the dead. Everything else is details; there may be important details but the facts listed in the previous sentence is what all Christians must agree on.

So the question has been raised regarding different positions on theology. There are Calvinists, Arminians, and those that claim neither position but believe all we need is the Bible. There are Christians that believe we should worship on the Sabbath and others that gather on what they call the Lord’s Day. There are three basic positions on when the rapture will take place, other sub-divisions, and those who do not believe there will be a rapture. There is so much disagreement that one must either conclude there Is no God or that he offers us much grace otherwise no one gets credit for doing everything correctly. Who is right, who is wrong, and more importantly how can we know?

I believe there may be none of us totally right about everything. Even in my own denomination… even in my own congregation, and among members of my immediate family, there are differences in how certain scriptures should be interpreted. God gives us grace. The Pharisees went to great lengths to prove to God they were serious about keeping his laws and statues. They kept the letter of the law but Jesus criticized them for missing the spirit of the law. Those who ask God to show mercy and seek after his heart seem to be the most pleasing to God, in my study of scripture, compared to those who are most interested in getting every detail right.

Different people have different ideas about how to serve God. Jesus had a very productive discussion with one Samaritan woman by a well about how and where to worship God. The Apostle Paul directly addressed this issue in Romans 14.

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ² One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. –Romans 14:1-6 ESV

Do the best you can with what you’ve got. Find a good Bible teacher and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into understanding. Then rest in the fact that God’s grace is sufficient and that you don’t have to convince every person that disagrees with you that they are wrong.