There’s a guy at work, I’ll call him Mr. W. He told me about a book that he read where the author was a pastor of a certain denominational congregation, and he converted from his existing congregation to join this new church. His book encourages others to do the same, and he’s very good at persuasion – so much so that my friend at work is now prompting me to purchase this book and join the movement. To be fair, I listened to him tell the story of why this book was fabulous. I probably shouldn’t have listened or nodded as much as I did, but I listened.
I listened because I don’t want to ever tell someone “I won’t go to your church because it’s an X denomination” because I don’t think God sends Baptists to one side of heaven while Pentecostals go to another side, and Catholics are heading straight down the middle. No, that’s not my job to say who gets in, I can only follow what God’s word says, and I know my own personal relationship with Him.
What bugged me though… what put me in a funk… was that he (Mr. W) had all these rules for who God was. That God is strict and that He has only a certain denomination that will enter heaven, and that only the righteous will get into heaven… and backs it up with scripture.
I get where He’s coming from. God is Holy, and we must be Holy if we are to ever hope to enter eternal salvation with Him. God is law, and He has rules, and He is order. But He is also grace! Jesus was the ultimate example of God’s grace for us. As I went to my quiet place today, I confessed that it bothered me and I didn’t like the thought that God is not a God of grace. At that moment, God spoke to my heart to say “You don’t need to listen to these laws that tell you who I am. You know in your HEART who I am. Follow that.”
I SO love that about Him. That God takes the time to reach down and speak to each of our hearts and remind us that who He is transcends the confines of the boxes we put Him in.
XOXO,
~ Karen
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