After almost a decade, my siblings and our parents
are in the same country at the same time. In times like these, you find yourself
enjoying even the silliest of arguments between siblings. I especially love hearing my
auntie’s iteration of some of our childhood memories. Being home has also
allowed me look at all the things God has done for my family and I. I have not written about my full testimony on this
blog but I felt to share a portion of it in this post as it is relevant to what
I will talk about. Here goes…
I was born in to a Christian household to my amazing
parents. Though I was Christian, I can now say I didn’t have a personal
relationship with the Lord until after I moved to Canada. I went through a season of
questioning if I really knew the Lord. To be honest, I had tried to read the
bible before then but I really needed to dig in. God, in His amazing mercy and
grace, surrounded me with people that knew and loved Him. After finishing my first year in University,
I remember accepting the Lord into my life. I remember I was in my room and I
said “Jesus, I don’t know if I already have you in my life but if not, can you
please come into my life and be my personal Savor?” That was in October of 2010
and by far the best decision I have ever made.
My journey was and remains interesting. I was raised
in a different Christian denomination from the one I currently identify with.
However, I made it my personal mission to make sure my family and friends
understood that we still served the same Lord. You see where I am from these two
denominations had a long lasting rivalry. One was part of the Ethiopian
identity for the longest time while the other was highly misunderstood. Because of the fear of the unknown parents
felt betrayed by their children when they decided to follow Christ in the
“newer” denomination. People that decided to pursue this denomination got
persecuted whilst they denounced the practices of the former one. The people
that were in the “newer” denomination even equated practices that were part of
worship in the previous denomination as idolization. Some of these new converts went on to boast that they had the right path
while the rest didn’t. I say these
things boldly because I have seen, heard, and experienced similar things.
Even when I was so intentional at standing for
unity in Christ, I recently realized that I also had some prejudices of my own. You see I
grew up in Ethiopia in the former denomination but after accepting the Lord
joined the “newer” denomination but in Canada.
Yesterday was the first time I got to attend a Church service in Ethiopia. Before I went to this service I remember
asking the Lord to help me, for me not to receive any word that wasn’t from
Him. This temporary skepticism came from the fact that I had been hearing not
so pleasant things that some of the leaders of this “newer” denomination had
been doing. However, God is bigger!
Few minutes in to the service, God was confirming
some of the things He had taught me through this Apostle. I could hear Him
telling me that we both have the same spirit in us, that we both serve the same
Lord, Jesus Christ. God was teaching me about 1 Corinthians 12, One Body with
Many Members, all over again. You see
even as this chapter talks about different ministries within a church it also
gives insight to different churches within the big “C” Church.
I believe God uses denominations as ways of reaching
out to different segments of people. People that appreciate one can worship Him
in that setting whilst others in another. I am convinced that God cares less
about denominations and more about people knowing His son.
If God’s heart for mankind is that none should
perish, why do we waste time nit picking our denominational differences? Why
isn’t the focus the suffering world? Why isn’t our concern sharing the love of
Christ?
I conclude by imploring you to focus on the big “C”
Church! Think more on the similarities we hold in Christ than the doctrinal
differences. We can get more done together by uniting than by tearing one
another down. God is love and if we claim to be His followers our lives need to
reflect it.
“12 For just as the body is one and has many
members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is
with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of
one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member
but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I
do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
16 And
if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,”
that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were
an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear,
where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God
arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If
all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many
parts, yet one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:12 - 20
Stay
Blessed<3
Amen and God bless!
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