Fellowship

This is a scary entry to write, primarily because I have no idea who’s reading my blog and it’s possible this could be quoted elsewhere. But I’ve gotten some questions lately about what the heck has happened with my fellowship situation, so here’s a brief summary of where I stand. If you want the dirty details, ask. And if you have a comment, please direct it to me.

The Christadelphians in South Africa for the most part don’t know much about North American fellowship issues. There seems to be a variation of belief on the areas of contention – just as there is in NA – and just as there was over a century ago before “The Split.” Some would say this is a good thing, and others would say it’s very very bad.

What I have to say is, there are people I never knew I never knew – and I believe they are just as much my brethren as anyone I grew up with. It’s not based on feelings – that comes later; it’s based on beliefs about what the Bible teaches regarding fellowship. If you get the fellowship part wrong, then you get everything after it wrong as well.

The people I’ve met the past year, in Africa and in North America, are just as much my brethren as those I grew up with – but not more so. I haven’t traded anyone for anyone else, and I haven’t cut anyone off. A decision was made by a small group of people to cut me off from them for reasons I don’t believe are biblical, and which were so unclear and inconsistent that I didn’t know which way was up for a year (I landed in the Southern Hemisphere, so maybe I still don’t). It was sad and hard and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But it happened and I wouldn’t change a second and those people are still my brethren for whom Christ died.

Sometimes your conscience – guided by scripture, not in spite of it – leads you in some weird directions. When that happens, you check and double check to make sure you’re actually getting your guidance from the Bible, and then you just do it. You think about the consequences, but you realize that consequences don’t determine what’s right and wrong, and therefore are ultimately inconsequential – no matter how scary they are in the short term.

If you’ve only heard one side of any issue for your whole life – it doesn’t matter which one side it is – my advice is to find a place where you can hear a different side. Don’t confuse familiarity and comfort with absolute truth. Learn as much as you can and then use your God-given powers of discernment to decide what’s true. And then walk that way – hopefully with humble steps, undoubtedly with shaky ones, and always with full knowledge that God is the one directing them.

And that’s how I got to Africa.

To end on a less dramatic note, here are a couple of monkey shots, and my Facebook thankfulness post for the day.

  

Nov. 7 – “I’m thankful that today I went for just enough of a run (accidentally, it was raining on the way to the spar) to remind me not to give up, despite the hills. Back at it tomorrow.”

So let it be written, so let it be done.