Right or Wrong

1 Cor 8:1-13

A few years ago, a local church invited a few elders from around the state to come preach in its evening services for a short series.

It was not so much that the preachers were intimidated by the invitation to preach as much as it was the theme of what they would be asked to explore. The challenge was simply this: if this is the last sermon you will ever preach, what will you say? Though I may be called upon to fill in for a pastor here and there, this could very well be the very last sermon I will ever deliver. I do not yet know where the Lord will lead me from here.

So what would I choose to share with you if I could know for sure that this would be the very last sermon I would ever preach?

If I recall, my first sermon at Mallettown included my invitation to you to feel free to disagree with me … as long as you would acknowledge in the end that I was right all along!

I have since shared with you that being a disciple of Christ has little to do with whether man could be right or wrong because the chances are that even if we might be “technically” correct in our assumptions or beliefs, we would be in the wrong if we tried to use our knowledge to hurt someone, to “prove them wrong”.

Paul talks about the difference between knowledge and love. Though we may think we have knowledge of a greater truth, refusing to share that knowledge in love would ultimately do more harm than good to those with whom we would choose to share. There is always that danger that we, in our sense of “knowledge”, might become so full of ourselves that we could no longer be taught anything new. Once we reach a point of believing there is nothing new for us to learn, then we may as well declare ourselves to be GOD!

What is also dangerous about such a state of mind is that not only can we no longer hear others, we are incapacitated in our ABILITY to help others. What I mean by this is that if we truly listen to what others are saying, others with whom we would disagree, then we can know where they are in their journey and actually join them rather than insist that they catch up. We lose our ability or willingness to listen, however, and at least appreciate what others are saying; this amounts to nothing more than simply dismissing a dissenting opinion and the person who holds that opinion as “heretical”, “moronic”, or even “blasphemous”.

Rather than endearing such a person to ourselves, we serve only to alienate them. So even if we are “technically” correct, they will never hear it because they will not care to be around us. Who wants to be berated or belittled for expressing a genuine thought or difference of opinion?

The battle in Christ’s beloved Church between the so-called “conservatives” and the “liberals” is a battle that should not be fought because it is a battle that can never be won. Why? Because we are talking about the ideals upon which each of us has built our faith. We are talking about other individuals who have arrived at certain conclusions based on any number of factors, not the least of which may be the fond Bible stories our grandparents may have shared with us.

We are also talking about individuals who have been blessed by the SAME Lord with the SAME free will that we use to exercise our own faith. The problem we seem to encounter within the church is that problem in which man insists that HIS truth is more “true” or valid than any other could possibly be.

Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians goes far beyond what may or may not be true, and he is certainly talking about much more than just “food”. He simply acknowledges that there are some who will have their minds made up about a particular point – in this case, foods that may have been offered to idols – and that perhaps it is that we should not be in such a big hurry to correct. He does not say that the situation should be ignored, not at all. But he prefaces what he says with “knowledge PUFFS up, but love BUILDS up.” If we read it carefully from the heart, we should be able to see that Paul places the burden on those who are comfortable in their faith for the sake of those who are “weak”. It is not our “job” or “calling” or “task” to straighten them out.

There are the battle cries from the so-called “conservatives” who insist that if these dastardly “liberals” are not stopped, the Church will be DESTROYED!

I beg to differ.

It is not so much whether so-called “liberals” or “conservatives” are doing any harm, directly or indirectly, to the Church. Christ Himself has said that the “gates of Hades shall not prevail” against His beloved Church, so why would He be overly concerned about whether a “conservative” or a “liberal” poses any significant threat to His Church?

We the people of the United Methodist Church are about the business of “making disciples”. That’s it. There really is nothing more to it. We cannot be in the business of “saving souls” because I do not believe that power has been vested in any human person. We cannot be about the business of judging others even as we judge immoral behavior because this, too, has been reserved for a Greater Power than we.

But if we are about the business of Christ’s church and, ultimately, the business of the Lord, we will know that we are about “making disciples”. This is what is more commonly referred to as “The Great Commission”. This is our charge. This is our duty. This is our responsibility. This is our opportunity! This is our BLESSING! SHARING the Good News so that others will be hungry for MORE!!

Never mind labels. Never mind squeezing persons into neat little categories by which we determine whether they are worthy of the blessings of our Holy Father. Never mind worrying about the condition of another’s heart. Never mind about being “right” or “wrong”. We must be more mindful about removing the “PLANK” from our own eye before we worry about the “SPECK” in another’s eye.

My final word to you, dear friends, is this: Just as surely and as completely as He loves YOU …. He loves “THEM” as well, whoever “THEM” happens to be. And He has not called upon any of us to separate the wheat from the chaff for Him. That time, which is exclusively His, has yet to come.