"We are made to grow and stretch and learn and we can't help but have our beliefs shift and grow with us. To force belief to be the uniting factor has been damaging to the church, I think.
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."
I believe our common ground should be "What is fruitful?" for we know the tree by its fruit.
God's way is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self Control, Creativity, Beauty... to walk in God's way empowered by the Spirit is what I feel unifies the Body.
We will often disagree - but the things that should hold us all to account are character things that make us more Christ like - not whether we all think the same.
The inquisition, the Crusades, witch hunts stem from a fear of other - "there is us and them..." but I think of humanity as just us.
I know this is rather broad minded but I can't help but think of the scriptures: "Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 and I John 4 where "everyone who loves is born of God and knows God..." which means to me that as we align our hearts with God's Love we will be led to healthy places.
Pharisees and Sadducees were full of arguing points of Jewish law - but Jesus embodied the Spirit behind the Law. I feel like as I lead others to connect with God and encourage good fruit, I allow God the freedom to guide and shape each of our experiences and growth. I like healthy dialogue over checking belief boxes...
I, too, get discouraged by the prevalence of hate and fear being spread in Christian circles. I am so thankful that God is big enough to calm such storms and that I have the role of praying and doing my best to live a life that would please God - where love is the commandment I place above all other beliefs and thoughts...
I don't know if my perspective is helpful for you as you continue to find the way of love in the midst of increasing pressures and demands that people all around us are experiencing. I really have found the emotional prayer routine to be incredibly freeing over time as it is helping me move from places of fear and insecurity to more peaceful places of possibility. https://getoiling.com/.../14610/emotionally-grounding-prayer
Many of us have experienced harshness from places where we expected to find grace. Know that grace is God's language - anyone can judge, get cynical and criticize. To extend the table to outsiders was Jesus' way of making us all one. The table is big enough for all of us as God's creative masterpieces - with our goal to become what God intended us to be when creating and forming us!
I hope you recover your sense of your Belovedness and hear the voice of the One whose thoughts are higher than all our thoughts and whose ways are beyond ours. May the voices that crowd out grace fall silent in the midst of the God who IS Love - whose Spirit is Life and Peace.
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