Go and Do Likewise

Meditations for Ragamuffins

November 9, 2023

Go and Do Likewise 

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.

Romans 13:8a

Our churches today have almost as much contention as there is in the halls of Congress. When two persons are contending, the issue is always the same: who has control or power. For the Christian, the issue of contending is a bit of a conundrum. The danger of contention in the church is that it causes disharmony, and the unity of the Body of Christ is breeched. Jesus told his followers, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). I believe the decline of the Christian church in America can be directly traced to the lack of respect, the lack of unity within churches, and among the various denominations and independent churches. Without love, we have no proof we are the disciples of Jesus; thus, the world ignores our witness.

If two people are contending over an issue, the fix is easy. Just one of them must stop contending. The conundrum is in knowing when to walk away. It has been my experience that the issues that internally divide churches, as well as those that divide denominations, are for the most part minuscule in comparison to our grand mission to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Yet the grand deceiver tempts us to make mountains out of the mole hills, and tragically, so many individuals, and churches, yield to this temptation.

John Wesley, the Methodist, was confronted by Simeon, a devoted Calvinist. Before he broke fellowship with Wesley, Simeon asked him a few questions. “Pray, Sir, do you feel that you would never have thought of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?” Wesley: “Yes, I do indeed.” “Do you look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?” Wesley: “Yes, solely through Christ.” Simeon: “But, Sir, supposing you were at first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards by your own works?” Wesley: “No, I must be saved by Christ from first to last.” Simeon: “What then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother's arms?” Wesley: “Yes, altogether.” Simeon: “And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom?” Wesley: “Yes, I have no hope but in Him.”

Simeon then affirmed that Wesley’s faith mirrored his own and said, “Instead of searching out terms and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things wherein we agree."

My Takeaway: “Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37b).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.