Quote:
Originally Posted by Toledo
The principle of denomination is that you set yourself apart from all other believers. The principle of the church is that you are one with all other believers.
Everybody draws some kind of circle around their little group. Whether it is a doctrine or teaching or practice or leader, whether it is overt or subtle, every group draws a circle and has a boundary. The principle of the church is simply to draw a bigger circle -- even reaching as far as the boundary of the locality in order to include every believer.
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Toledo, I think you make a good point. If you feel to meet as a church that includes all believers in the locality then please do so.
To my mind, any genuine church must receive all believers, otherwise they are a sect. Almost all Christian groups realize and practice this now. They receive all believers. So at least part of what you are envisioning is already in place.
However, they probably don't say their church
includes all believers in the locality. This is not because of divisiveness, but because of not wanting to be rude. It just sounds a presumptive for a group to say "Everyone is a member of our church." It sounds like they are making decisions for everyone and setting themselves above every other group. They would likely choose to say that they
welcome all believers.
Would you say then that they are lacking in vision, or worse, divisive? What would you say is the problem and, more importantly, what is your remedy for it?