While on vacation, I had some time to think while driving and enjoying God’ creation.  One of the thoughts that concerns me has been re-impressed on me just in perusing a number of Christian blogs – particular emerging ones and this one – of late.

One of the raps on ‘fundamentalism’, Slice, C?N, AM, etc., is an appearance of inability to discern between what is traditional/external and what is Biblical.  It is my concern that ‘emerging’ thought – when it is no longer emerging – will fall into the same set of traps.  In some cases, it already has in its treatment of tradition as somehow anti-Biblical.  This is just as wrong as the traditional externalist orthopraxy on display with Ingrid, in particular.

We who claim Christ, be we fundamentalist, Calvinist, Arminian, Emerging, Methodist, Reformation Movement, Restoration Movement, Protestant or Catholic, are all part of the Church and I am certain that each of us needs to retain a healthy amount of uncertainty that we ‘have it all right’.  As brothers and sisters, we need to keep that in mind as we write here and elsewhere, lest we fall into the sin of purposeful quarreling and divisiveness. 

In this arena, I would agree that am often the chiefest of sinners – so I write this for myself, first and formost.

I earnestly believe that most of us who write here, who often vehemently disagree with each other, will be spending an eternity together, and as I ‘get back into the groove’ after a long absense (and before another shorter one), I am hoping to try to agree and disagree in a manner that recognizes this…

Maybe this post is really just a reminder for me, but if you think it applies to you, perhaps it does, as well…

So we are commanded to love one another right?  In fact, I remember a certain scripture saying, “let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”  I don’t recall there being a condition on that verse either.  I didn’t say, “let us love one another, unless they are Muslim” or “let us love one another, unless of course they are Hindu.”

Well, it looks like a little leaven has leavened this whole website.  Apparently scriptural principles go into the category of “MOAA (Mother Of All Apostasies)”.  They are up in arms over a shirt that says “can’t we just love one another” using symbols from various world religions.  It did not say “can’t we just accept each other’s religion” and it didn’t say “can’t we just accept one another’s God.”  It simply said “can’t we just love one another.”

This is at the heart of the hyper-fundamentalist religious system at A Little Leaven, C?N, Slice and Apprising.  They only will love people who are like them.  Anyone else needs to first believe what they believe, and then they are worthy of love.  It’s a good thing that Christ loved us when we were following another religion.  And they think WE are the reason Christianity is in church decline.