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The habits of Christian gathering in various parts of the
country, and around the world, are different. In the
Southern states evening meetings are very common among
Bible-preaching churches. In the Northern states, however,
evening meetings are more rare in some places. One of the
big reasons for this difference is climate. Ice and snow
can make evening travel dangerous.
But there are also differences among
Christians with different denominational or doctrinal
backgrounds. Amish churches in some areas will meet for
much of the day on a Sunday. They prefer one long meeting
(which includes eating and other activities) because they use
horse and buggy for transportation. So, if the church is
very far, one round trip a day is better than two, and travel by
daylight is safer than night trips.
Christian believers are free in
Christ to choose the day of worship, the place and time to meet,
the kind of music that is used, and other practices of the local
church. While any of us may feel very strongly about the
way we do things, for any number of reasons, Christ does not
hold all of us to one human language, one manner of dress, one
kind of song, or one way of conducting a church service or
assembly.
So long as any group agrees
peacefully to meet and worship at a particular time and place,
in a particular way, the Lord seems to bless. The only
wrong way to go about meeting and serving God, I suppose, is to
use our ideas and convictions to stir up trouble among
believers. If we hold dear a practice or idea that brings
contention in the local assembly of Christian believers, it is
up to us to resolve the problem. It is not up to everyone
else to change for our benefit. We must either submit to
the larger group or leave the congregation and meet somewhere
else.
As painful or harsh as this may
sound, both Scripture and history shows us that God uses
differences, from time to time, to move His people into new
places of service. Of course, if some kind of peaceful
agreement can be reached without division, that is always the
better way. Christians have the capacity to love another,
even when they cannot agree.
This gift comes from God's love
inside us, given by the Holy Spirit. God's love does not
demand uniformity, perfect agreement or understanding. As
God loves us with all our imperfections, so we also love one
another with the same love, by the same Holy Spirit.
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