Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! (1 Corinthians 1:12-13)
Read: 2 Chronicles 35:1-36:23, 1 Corinthians 1:1-17, Psalm 27:1-6, Proverbs 20:20-21
Relate: I am not a foodie. Even though I love to go out to eat and anytime I can, one of the first things I do in a new city is visit Yelp and Tripadvisor and make it a point to enjoy at least two or three of their top ten restaurants in the area. I love trying new things and even if it isn’t my favorite I enjoy being able to say, “I’ve had that.” I have been able to experience a few new foods lately including beyran soup. This is actually a breakfast specialty made of lamb and rice and garlic and pepper and pepper and… did I say pepper? I really enjoyed it but my stomach has been giving me a little trouble for the past week or so and this certainly did not help. I have also tried for the first time katmer. A general description would be to say it is like baklava except not as sweet and with a slightly creamy taste. Beyond that it is really hard to describe to someone who has never tried it. It can be served for breakfast or as a desert. Actually, my portion was big enough I ate only a bit more than half in the morning and the had rest as a midafternoon snack. I have had kebap many times in many places but lately for the first time I was introduced to kusleme. I have now had it four times in the past two weeks but the first time was at a little restaurant so famous their entire wall is lined with pictures of famous people who have come there to get it.
As fun as all that is, most of the time where I most like to eat is at a buffet. I know, I know. With that statement every true foodie has stuck their nose up in the air and are now clicking away to go read a “real” food review. Good riddance. One thing that is pretty much a guarantee is that at a buffet, you will never eat the best of any one particular thing. Whether it is chinese or pizza, Golden Corral or Ponderosa, each and every entrée can be found elsewhere as a menu item that will be fresher and tastier. What makes a buffet so great is the sheer variety of items to chose from.
Now imagine I went out to eat at a buffet along with three other people. I have been craving fish so I go through and pull out every (imitation) clam and crab entrée I can find along with an abundance of shrimp and sushi. I sit down and see that the guy next to me had a plate full of beef and steak type items. I look at him and say, “How can you eat all that? You might as well just go grab a cow and cut it open.” A third friend sits down on my other side looks at my plate and says, “That really isn’t healthy. I have a cousin who tried eating shellfish and ended up in the emergency room where they pumped his stomach. You’re gonna kill yourself.” Of course the fourth person in our party is a vegetarian. She doesn’t say anything out loud. She just sniffs condescendingly, mutters something indecipherable that included the word murderers, and delicately starts to cut up her carrots.
React: The Church universal is in many ways like a buffet. There is an abundance of diversity and variety and each individual church is unique in their own right. When I visit a new church, there will almost always be some things I like and others I don’t. That’s OK. Someone else might go to the same church only to like and not like it for the exact opposite reasons. We all of us bring our own unique abilities and preferences and cultural background into the task of advancing the Kingdom of God. For this reason, an abundance of churches and a variety of denominations is a good thing. If you are the scream and shout and dance around type, join a charismatic church. If you are into systems and organizations and mission, become a methodist. If you walk around as though you had a permanent wedgie and would never do ______ (pick your cultural “sin”) because it just might lead you down a slippery slope to dancing… I have a baptist church just for you. We all like to pump up our own worship preference or pet dogma and look down our noses at others. Two thousand years into this thing and we are all still saying, “I follow Paul (Hillsongs)” or “I follow Peter (Fred Hammond)” or “I follow Apollos (Hymns)” or “I follow Christ (we don’t use instruments)” God help us all. How much further would we be able to do if we could only get along? How much quicker would the Kingdom advance if we treated the Church like we do a buffet: take what you like and leave the rest for someone else.
Respond:
Dear God,
Forgive me for the times I have acted like a spiritual foodie. Forgive me for the times I have focused on how much better one is over another or why it is oh so good to take this but how could anyone choose that? For all those times I have been critical of things that are not sin but only cultural preferences, forgive me. Help me to love the Church, *all* the Church. Help me to love the Pauls and Peters and others even if it is not how I best respond to You. Please, please don’t ever let me stand in the way of what You are doing in another’s heart.
Amen
THE RIVER WALK 
Thought provoking, indeed!
Well put.
Very true! Spot on, my good man! Blessings to you in all you do!
I like the foodie analogy. How we love to look down on each other’s choices! It’s funny how little diversity we tolerate in the body of Christ given how creative God is.
Just finished some Popeyes. Tastes good until it sits in the belly for a while.
There’s lots of food at the buffet, all cooked poorly but very tasty. What is consistent (mostly) is the water – pure, living water. No matter what we put around it, it’s the water that we need, it’s the water that our body craves, it’s the water we can agree on.
Everything might/will be cooked a little differently and vary in quality, yet none of that matters if we don’t have the water, the pure living water.
Come to think of it, the water is usually away from the main attraction, off in the corner against the wall, or brought to the table as an after thought – but that’s a different analogy.
I’m going to have to try some katmer for sure. There are some places in Chicago that have it. Thanks Yelp!
Thought this was great and definitely something to think about!! Can’t wait to see what you write next!
LOL! I think much of that comes with maturity. I just kind of stay busy minding my own biznatch and it seems to work … removing my own plank of wood so to speak. Im not a real picky eater and I just stay away from things that upset my stomach. Great read/analogy.
Food for thought indeed!!
Hi there, I appreciate you taking interest in my posts. I am curious, are you personally of the persuasion that salvation only comes through believing in Jesus, and that those who do not believe are condemned? Perhaps on their way to a literal hell? Just curious. Thanks!
No I am not. Believing in Jesus is not enough as God makes clear when scripture says, “Even the demons believe and they tremble.” Salvation comes only when His atonement is applied in our lives when we repent and believe. Justification is an event simultaneously private (believe) and public (confess). It is an internal acceptance (believe) evidenced through an external change (repent).
Thanks for sharing. I can definitely sense an Evangelical persuasion, are you part of a certain denomination?
Are you trying to pigeonhole me into some preconceived stereotype?
Oh, not at all, I didn’t mean to give you that impression. I’m just trying to understand your background is all.
In the Getting Deeper section you can see the beginnings of my personal statement of faith. Eventually… someday… maybe… I will even manage to finish it. Feel free to read away to see what I believe.
Cool, thanks again, again my apologies if it seemed like I was prying. You’ll learn more about my background as well as I post more on my blogs. Take care!
No problem. If I seemed overly elusive, it is not because of who I am associated with but rather where I am living.
Reblogged this on ChristianBlessings and commented:
Father in heaven, as Your children, teach and help us to see each other according to Your eyes and not ours. Then in grace and mercy accept what we cannot change and change what we can. So help us Lord to behave like Your children blood bought in love by our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Amen! This post was awesome and very timely,too.
Really took a lot from this post, thank you 😊
Indeed, denominations focus too much on anthropology. What for we nit and pick at each other when we all believe in the same Christ? God sees the heart. What about those who were born in tribes or in places that are majority Muslims or Buddhists etc.. I doubt God will condemn them as he said he will come for the ‘Nations’ (Isaiah 60) and not ‘Christians’. Be of good heart and a good person. Repentance, acceptance, change. Great post as always 🙂 God Bless.
I agree that people will come to Him from all religions. I see first hand many Muslims that are coming to Him. But in doing so, they do not stay Muslims. He came to save the world, but those who He saves become true Christians… “little Christs”. I know that word carries a lot of baggage from those who claim it and yet are not it, but there is still no word better to describe the redeemed.
Some people read their bibles with a narrow and shallow mind….The Holy Spirit or like I call Him, DADDY HOLYGHOST, He was sent to teach us all things and not some things, great work.
Very well said, well the parts I like…just kidding…God made us unique and the journey back to fully restoring His image in us is as unique as each person. Thanks for sharing!
Amen. Very encouraging and Awesome too
Is another word for factions – denominations?
There is a song by Michael Card and John Michael Talbot about the creed we share ~ a Calvinist and a Roman Catholic.
The title of this post reminds me of somebody I heard a long time ago tell a group to “eat/take the meat, and leave the bones.”
This post also made me think of David’s song ~ “He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.”
I was asking a real question, not rhetorical.😊
I read this again, and realized foodie can be used in different ways, I guess.
I used to be a foodie – a person who was concerned about where my food came from, how ethically it was grown, and how to make it taste great amid fake food.
Paul said, follow me, as I follow Christ – it can get confusing, all of the seeming inconsistencies, but maybe the key is that Paul still makes Jesus central, not himself?
The conclusion says it all, “take what you like and leave the rest for someone else.”