Some thoughts...
1. Since I believe that the "one holy catholic church" is a spiritual reality not any particular institutional congregation (or association thereof), I accept ALL believers as my FULL brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm often stunned at how true that is, how I can speak to a Greek Orthodox and Pentecostal and liberal Episcopalian and traditional Lutheran - and there is a bond of faith there that is nothing less than amazing, wonderful, beautiful...
2. Western Christianity, especially, seems very focused on doctrine rather than spirituality or life. We see that clearly revealed in forums like this that are pretty much about what doctrines we believe in and why.
3. We agree with each other FAR more than we disagree. Consider that all of us here acribe to the Creed. Consider the things we are all agreeing with!!!! When I was taking membership classes in BOTH my Protestant and Catholic congregations, what amazed me was how nearly identical they were, not how different they were. Sometimes, in my Catholic class, I would state exactly how my Protestant teacher explained it - rarely (very rarely) did the Priest say he disagreed, although sometimes he'd share that he'd place the emphasis differently or word it a tad differently. I did the same the other way around, with much the same results. And MOST (not all) of the time, the clear disagreements were in areas both agreed were pretty moot (does it matter if Mary was always a virgin or ascended into heaven when she died???).
4. We do disagree on some points. It's understandably, we focus on where we disagree. Can you image a presidential debate on TV where the Republican and Democratic candidates began with how they agree? We'd spend the first 10 hours with them saying 'yes' to each other! But, this natural focus on our differences is misleading - especially to the seekers who come here and see what we do to each other...
5. The discussions here can get very passionate - even personal. I DO understand that. For many of us, our faith is the "ground of our being" the most important aspect of our lives, perhaps the one thing we'd literally die for. Our relationship to God is a very intimate, personal thing! When we interpret something as an attack on that faith, it's understandable we feel hurt and come back fighting. And it's understandable when people shout (big or cap or bold letters) and get personal. BUT, while I understand such, I think we ALL need to keep that in check. Most of the time it's not intentional. There's a LOT of passion here and we're all exposing our hearts to each other.
6. I see 'DEBATE' as the process of convincing people that one side is right and the other wrong. Its goal is conversion to our way of thinking, believing, behaving. I think that 'DEBATE' is inappropriate in an interdenominational forum like this. We need to embrace each other as FULL brothers and sisters in Christ (nothing 'separted' or 'apostate'). We need to embrace each other's sincerity, integrity, etc. When we get to heaven, you will ALL discover that I'm correct about everything, and that's good enough for me.
7. I see this as a DISCUSSION forum. A place to share and learn - and hopefully encourage and support each other. Most of us don't need to come to a website to get our faith torn apart. Here is a place we can share what we believe - and why, what we embrace in our hearts - and what it means to us. We can ask GENUINE questions and learn! But always remember points #4 and #5.
MY $0.01...
Keep the faith! Share the love!
- Josiah
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