Tuesday, June 23

Jeremiah 23:1–4 (HCSB)

"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!"  ‹This is› the LORD’s declaration.

"Therefore, this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them.  I will attend to you because of your evil acts"—the LORD’s declaration. "I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.  I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any be missing." ‹This is› the LORD’s declaration.

 

This prophecy is for national Israel. But it can also have application for the church. Right now God’s people are scattered. We are scattered throughout many denominations, many different churches, wearing a plethora of labels. But this will not always be. One day all God’s people will be one. I welcome that day! We allow far too much to divide us. We are divided over inconsequential nomenclature—things that don’t matter a hill of beans! Just because one shepherd does not say it exactly like we do we think we have to take our flock and go graze in another pasture. Even the “non-corral” shepherds cannot get along with each other!

 

Now I am not advocating the demolition of all denominations. The Bible tells us that the next one-world religion will be a false religion headed by the false prophet.

 

But when the Lord of the Church returns we will all be united under Him. Until then we ought to do our dead level best to get along with each other! We should remember that no one of us has a corner on the truth market. We are all fallible. We suffer from way too much ego. If we were humble we would realize that we could be wrong. We would listen more and argue less. We would realize that there is a lot more that unites us than divides us, and a lot more we agree on than disagree on.

 

The fact is that if you have Christ living in your heart and I have Christ living in my heart we share a kinship that is stronger than blood. I know there will be preferences on things like worship style and modes of baptism. You might hit a two-handed backstroke and I may hit a one-handed backstroke—and some showoff might be ambidextrous and swing only forehands—but we can still play doubles! We don’t have to join a separate club! We need each other… and we need what each of us can bring to the table. We desperately need to love each other and start getting along. I think this would do more to advance the cause of Christ today than we could imagine.