~ Raymond Settle
Whitefield echos here another great evangelist, the Apostle Paul, who wrote these words to the church in Colossae:
For Paul and for Whitefield, the great unifier of the Church is Jesus Christ who "is all, and in all." For believers, this means that certain things must change with respect to how we relate to one another; how we disagree with one another; how we challenge one another. We do no have permission to see anyone with whom we share the benefits of the cross as anything less then as Paul refers to us: "those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved..."
This does not mean, of course, that we cannot disagree or challenge one another--Whitefield's disagreements with John Wesley are legendary, and Paul was certainly no wilting flower when it came time to address those with whom he disagreed. But in these disagreements, we have no right to see our fellow Christian as less then God does, nor to treat them, publicly or privately, in thought or word, in any manner other then with compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience. Anything less is to put on the old self and the evil practices that comprise its DNA and to rebuild the partition wall that the Lord seeks to break down in each of our hearts.
Whitefield echos here another great evangelist, the Apostle Paul, who wrote these words to the church in Colossae:
"But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity." ~ Colossians 3:8-14
For Paul and for Whitefield, the great unifier of the Church is Jesus Christ who "is all, and in all." For believers, this means that certain things must change with respect to how we relate to one another; how we disagree with one another; how we challenge one another. We do no have permission to see anyone with whom we share the benefits of the cross as anything less then as Paul refers to us: "those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved..."
This does not mean, of course, that we cannot disagree or challenge one another--Whitefield's disagreements with John Wesley are legendary, and Paul was certainly no wilting flower when it came time to address those with whom he disagreed. But in these disagreements, we have no right to see our fellow Christian as less then God does, nor to treat them, publicly or privately, in thought or word, in any manner other then with compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience. Anything less is to put on the old self and the evil practices that comprise its DNA and to rebuild the partition wall that the Lord seeks to break down in each of our hearts.
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