The Table Of Brotherhood
Michael J. Brooks
I don’t often get to visit other congregations, so it was good to visit Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., recently. A hobby club I’m in has had an annual convention in Plains and Americus for more than 30 years, and the weekend concludes with morning worship at the church of our 39th president.
Gone are the days when attendees lined up at 6 a.m. to hear the former president teach the adult Bible class, but the church continues to serve their community and share the gospel.
Last year I met Lizzie, the Yorkie. She came into the service, jumped on my knee and licked my hand. I had never felt so welcomed! Lizzie also didn’t make a peep during worship. This year I missed Lizzie, so I asked her owner after worship where she was. She told me another lady had begun bringing her dog to church, and “Lizzie doesn’t get along well with others.”
I thought, I know some people like that!
In my first full-time church I visited with a member at his business. I told him I’d missed him in worship, and he told me he had a problem. “There’s a member at our church I can’t stand to be around,” he said. He explained that the two had been business partners at one time before dissolving ownership. So, I imagine it was hard in church to sing “We Are One In The Bond Of Love” when the bond was broken.
In another church we had two brothers who didn’t speak after an inheritance issue. And two sisters who didn’t speak for some reason. In another place a family grew angry when a new member came into our fellowship who’d been previously married to one of their friends.
I’m sure there have been many more examples of disharmony I perhaps didn’t know about.
Church dissension has always puzzled me since scripture calls Christians “adelphoi”—brothers in the Lord. All families must get along with one another. Disputes are sure to come, but there is a more excellent way. In obedience to scripture we must move beyond petty quarrels and erase old grudges, always seeking the path of reconciliation.
It’s often said that we should learn to get along with Christian brothers and sisters on earth since we’ll spend eternity with them in heaven.
As one wit noted: “To live above with saints we love, that will be glory! But to live below with saints we know, that’s another story!”
The apostle Paul gave a great model to the church when he said to forgive others as God has forgiven us.
As Dr. King so famously dreamed, Christians must “sit down together at the table of brotherhood.”
