Paul and animal sacrifices.

 Can you be in fellowship with people who offer animal sacrifices to GOd? Offering an animal sacrifice is a sin, right? Often our own traditions can become "Law" to us, and anything foreign to our traditions, especially "in the church/worship service," is anathema. To expand our horizons, please consider something Paul did which might surprise you. Consider these points, and then ask, "What does this tell us about God?"

1.) Paul had taken a vow (Acts 18:18), and according to the law, upon completion of that vow, he was required to offer animal sacrifices (Num 6:13ff). WAIT WHAT!? Can't do that, right? One of the reasons he came to Jerusalem was to "present offerings" (Acts 24:17).

2.) Paul met with James and the elders in Jerusalem (Acts 21:17-18.), who mentioned that thousands of newly-believing Jews (now Christians) were still zealous for the Law (v20). These Jews had heard rumors that Paul was telling Jews outside of Judah to stop keeping the Law (v21). James and the elders wanted to reassure these people that, not only was it not true,but that Paul himself still walked according to the Law. (v24)

3.) In order to accomplish this, Paul had to purify himself, along with four others who had taken a vow, and pay their expenses to shave their heads at the conclusion of their vows (Acts 21:24).

4.) According to the law, the expenses at the conclusion of a vow included the burnt offering of a 1-yr old male lamb, the sacrifice of a year-old ewe lamb, a ram, a basket of bread, flour cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers mixed with oil, a meal offering, drink offerings, and a portion of his shaved hair as a burned offering (Num 6:13ff).

5.) Paul waited seven days until the offering could be made for each one of them (Acts 21:26-27).

Paul knew that the Law was not evil nor sin. The error in offering sacrifices and doing those rituals comes if one seeks to be JUSTIFIED by them, which he was not. What does this tell us about God and Christianity? Does it allow you to more easily be united with other believers who maybe do some things different?

Christians only—a resolution worth trying!

170 years ago, men and women came together to be "just Christians only."

From that plea, it was a mere 40 years later that the three denominations called the Church of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, and Christian Church were born.

All three names meaning exactly the same thing; it was mostly irrelevant and non-salvation issues that trifurcated the original plea to just be Christians without denominational lines.

What if some Christians took seriously the idea of being just Christians without denominational boundaries?

Anyone want to try it with me?

Foundations—which would you toss out?

God said through Paul, "I...implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." That sounds pretty important, huh? Well He goes on to say,"being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (All verses from Eph 4:1-6)

That's FOUNDATIONALLY important! So what things is God looking for? Well they're in the next two verses. Which of these are you comfortable telling people, "Eh, God doesn't care about THAT one. You don't have to believe it?"

1.)There is one body

2.) and one Spirit,

3.) one hope of your calling;

4.) one Lord,

5.) one faith,

6.) one baptism,

7.) one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Which one of those are you willing to leave out when teaching someone about God? Are any of them "not that important?"

Unity of what?

So I mentioned that God calls us to the unity of faith and Spirit in Ephesians 4, and that allows for some variance, since it's "the unity" and not "the uniformity." At the same time, though, God does give a list of 7 things that we have to be united on; namely that,

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." (4-6)

From what I can tell, most people will buy into 6 of these, but shy away from baptism. Since they are listed without preference, it seems that God equates denying baptism with the same denying the Spirit, or the one God. I certainly feel free and unafraid saying that I agree with God on all 7 counts!

Are you a damnable heretic?

I've been called a false teacher, damnable heretic, and even son of Satan before, and often over very slight differences in understanding over scriptures. With that said, God is looking for us to learn, and He has a goal in mind. Check it out:

"...to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith." (Eph 4:12-13)

God wants unity. Before we throw out the "false teacher" line, we should recognize that unity isn't the same thing as uniformity. When we start looking for uniformity, we can become hyper-critical and prideful, looking for any deviation, supposing that we know everything with 100% accuracy. 

Let's build each other up instead of living by the rule, "The nail that sticks out gets the hammer." There's a place for teaching, but a place for learning from our differences, too. "Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, "I have no need of you." Or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." (1 Cor 12:21)

—Lucas