Keeping Your Spiritual Sanity

It’s all so simple when starting out in your Christian life. You take for granted all of God’s people believe like you, and the particular church or denomination you are associated with. But, gradually, and to your surprise, you realize this is not so. You discover that within Christendom, there are Calvinists, Arminians, Dispensationalists, Reformed, etc. These are found within the walls of churches such as Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Nazarene, and many others. All of which say their doctrine and teachings are the closest to the truth of the Scriptures. Some go so far as to say they are the only ones who are right, tagging all others as apostates and heretics.

If you are familiar with Church history, you realize this has always been the case, for the most part. And why is this? It’s very simple when you think about it. The problem derives from the fact that, although we have an infallible Bible, we ourselves are still fallible. Possessing the infallible doesn’t make us so. Throughout history, Christians have had heated disagreements on minor subjects, but all seem to have agreed on the cardinal doctrines of the Faith. The fall of man, the New Birth, the blood of Christ, the Resurrection, and His coming a second time were basic tenets which all believers adhered to. With so many different voices in the world of religion, if we are going to keep our spiritual sanity, let us major on these basic beliefs.

Someone told me of an old evangelist who said while preaching, that only Fundamentalists would be in Heaven. At my advanced age, I can still blush. And I did, when I heard that statement. How embarrassing to hear such ignorance displayed, no matter what group one may belong to.

In a family, some can be more right than others, but that doesn’t make the others any less kin.