BEING LIKEMINDED

The blogosphere has an amazing way of bringing people together who have all the same interests and knitting together a little cyber-community. When I first started blogging about four years ago I was thrilled to find other women who homeschooled, were Calvinistic in their theology and thought God should be in charge of their family planning. I think I'm probably the only one of that category in my church. It was nice to "be around" others who shared the same convictions. I put those words in quotes because I really wasn't participating in a real-life, flesh and blood community. It was fun though and I spent many hours reading blogs and visiting websites of others who shared the same convictions and concerns. Lately, however, I've been thinking about the dangers of seeking this type of community. It's very tempting to want to import this sense of cyber-community to your own real life community. And when you realize there aren't many around you with the same convictions it's tempting to get discouraged and resentful and maybe even think of leaving where you are to go find these people.

But what does the Bible say about community and how we are to live with one another?


There has always been disagreement in the body of Christ about nonessential issues. How are we to handle this? Do we seek to create our own little cliques? It does get kind of ridiculous when you start to describe yourself this way - I'm a Reformed, credo-Baptist, quiverful homeschooler who bakes her own bread, makes her own clothes and doesn't own a TV. (By the way, not all of that applies to me.) What does this do? In my own experience, the more I've sought for this elusive likemindedness the more I've been tempted to pride and arrogance. I've also unintentionally alienated the majority of my brothers and sisters in Christ.


The Bible says this ~

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:1-6


"We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." Romans 15:1-2, 5-7



"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." Colossians 3:12-14



I could go on but I hope you get the picture. The Bible calls us to unity in the essentials, but always liberty and charity in the non-essentials. Let me share a long overdue story about how I let my quest for likemindedness lead me into pride, arrogance and the almost alienation of another believer.

Several years ago I was bothered by the fact that a couple mothers in my church were going back to work after having babies. I wrote a blog post about it and someone I didn't know commented on my harsh tone. I was a little taken back but tried to take her constructive criticism and examine how I'd said things. Her comment was more important to me when I found out that she attended my church and had felt a little alienated by those in a particular class who stayed at home and homeschooled their children. She happened to be a mother of a (then) baby boy who worked outside the home. I really took her words to heart and started evaluating my attitudes and my quest for this elusive thing called likemindedness. Over the past several years God has taught me a lot about this. The major thing I've learned is that I was holding up a certain standard for myself that had become an idol. I thought that this standard was the only one that equated to godliness. I wasn't satisfied with trying to live up to this standard myself - I began placing it upon other people as well. But am I responsible for another mother's or another family's decisions? No. Is it right for me to sit in judgment of another person because they have made different choices about these non-essential issues? No. I am not supposed to be keeping score of other people's sanctification. Now, I know there is a fine line here. We are called to exhort and warn other brothers and sisters in Christ if they are in serious sin or falling away from the faith. But we are not called to judge our fellow believers in the non-essential issues. Read Romans 14 for more on that.

Before I start writing a book, let me finish the story about the woman who commented on that blog post. She had started a blog and I read it occasionally and she continued to check in on mine. I thought she and her family had left our church after what she told me about her experience. I was wrong. One day about a year ago I got an email from her and she said that she saw me in Sunday School!! To make a long story short, we ended up meeting in person the next week I think and after talking we found out we lived only a few short miles away from each other. How amazing is that!? I am so glad I met Jill and I still love to read her blog. I am so thankful for what God taught me through that one comment.