Jesus called his followers to be united, yet we often hone in on our differences while failing to appreciate the contributions of fellow believers. As author Collin Hansen suggests, we have ‘blind spots,’ and on this edition of Connecting Faith, he helps us view our differences as opportunities to engage a needy world with the love of Christ. Join us for a conversation on .
Collin believes that we’re too often looking through the prism of liberal vs. conservative. He doesn’t believe that’s the example Jesus left for us, and that we can learn a better way as we look at His life.
Do we take on characteristics of the church we grew up in? Collin says that many of our attitudes toward church and other believers can be formed as reactions to the environment in which we were raised.
Collin looks at the positive and negative characteristics of three groups inside the church:
• The courageous are steadfast followers of Jesus who stand fro the truth. Yet they can also lean toward idealism and pride.
• The compassionate are sensitive & in tune with the needs of those around them.
• The commissioned are a group of creative & imaginative individuals who can also display practicality.
When dealing with our brothers and sisters, we should look to Christ first in any scenario – especially when we’re dealing with disagreements.
“You don’t have to agree with someone else to be able to learn something from them.” – Collin
Specifically, is there anything we can learn from them to help us communicate and show the person of Christ with more clarity?
We can have all the theoretical boxes checked, but still miss the heart of Jesus. So what’s at the core of being a united body of Christ?
Key scripture – 1 Corinthians 12
