Locking Arms

Photo courtesy of www.lockingarmsmen.org

My last blog post created quite a stir in the comments section of my Facebook page.  Doctrinal beliefs, opinions, and blog links were volleyed back and forth between several very passionate Protestant and Catholic friends of mine.  One friend later asked me if I was offended....

Offended? No.  Disheartened? Yes.

That online shouting match brought to my mind all of the blood spilled between Protestants and Catholics throughout the last five centuries.  One such string of conflicts is known as The Thirty Years War.  Sadly, this war that was waged in central Europe between 1618 and 1648 is described as being "one of the longest, most destructive conflicts in European history" by online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.  This conflict began when the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to control the religious activities of his subjects, which sparked a very bloody and brutal rebellion between Protestants and Catholics.

And sadly, we Christ followers still do this today.  We might not shed one another's blood, but we volley verbal assaults at each other, much of the time talking past one another, making assumptions, and using God's Word as a weapon to weld against our fellow man.

This should not be.

While it is important to know what we believe and why we believe it, Peter exhorts us to always give an answer for the hope that we have with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).

I will close today's post with these wise words from Nelson D. Kloosterman from Worldview Resources International, which I found while reading his book review of Berkouwer and Catholicism: Disputed Questions:

"Cultural threats confronting Christians in the secularized West compel Protestants and Roman Catholics to lock arms, even if they don't hold hands.  Shedding stereotypes is a necessary prelude to conquering the tribalism on both sides that fails to respect the 'other who has become our fellow traveler."

Perhaps, dear friend, we ought to lock arms as brothers and sisters in Christ, point our fingers away from one another and out toward the world where we can step together and serve side-by-side as servant leaders of Christ, loving, serving, and calling out to a lost and hopeless world that is desperate for the hope of the true gospel message.