Clash of the Churchpeople
According to the website www.expertgps.com, there are nearly 13,000 churches in Alabama. There are two ways to look at this. One is that there are many churches of many designs, and there should be one to suit everyone. Another way to look at it is that many people can’t get along, so they create more churches.
But, really. Why do people plant churches? Presumably, it is to meet the need of spreading the Word of God. Church planters are often apostolic, working with Christians of other gifts. They want a church to be evangelistic in spreading the Word, pastoral in taking care of the community, prophetic in understanding, and teaching in practice. That sounds so promising! Hallelujah! Now. Throw in some worship and some carpet, and BOOM! People have a lot to fight about.
Okay. I may be exaggerating just a little. But you know that we can find all kinds of things to argue about. It really could be that church members don’t like the way the pastor teaches, or the type of worship, or the color of the carpet. What is especially sad, though, is when Christians clash because of differences in scriptural interpretation. Yes, you have seen examples of that, too. One example of the topics that separate whole denominations is the Rapture.
I have heard it taught that the Rapture will occur pre-Tribulation, mid-Tribulation, and even post-Tribulation. All of the teachers used scriptures to back them up, and all were quite convinced that their poor brothers and sisters in other churches were wrong.
Here are the scriptures in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. You can read them for yourself.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
What do I think? I think they all had good arguments, but I am not the one to decide. And, neither am I going to try to convince you which part of the “Trib” I think the Rapture will occur. But it saddens me that something so wonderful as the gathering of Jesus’ people by the Prince of Peace Himself causes such strife.
We focus on the wrong things. The enemy tries to distract us from truth and tries to separate us from other believers. And we all know this applies to more situations than the discussion of the Rapture. If you need evidence, attend a church business meeting.
But refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they generate strife.
2 Timothy 2:23
Connection is something we talk about quite often here. One of the foundational principles of Joanna Snow Ministries is how important it is to connect with God and to connect with others. And the Rapture, ironically, is something that will bring all Christians, all believers, together at once, no matter which church they attend. Neither the Rapture nor any of the good things of God should drive us apart or cause us to disconnect from other believers. So, if you see another church start, pray for it. Pray for the people who are establishing it, that God is in the lead, and for many people to be reached. And, maybe pray for the carpet.
