Everything changes. Even words, such as evangelical, change in meaning over time. Thus the necessity to append qualifiers such as fundamentalist vs conservative evangelical, liberal evangelical vs progressive evangelical, and there is even something called post-evangelical or the emerging church. Many wonder, just where do “I” fit? Others simply assume one label fits all which elicits the protest, but I’m not one of them!
Nashville is, believe it or not, home to a mind-boggeling array of Christians. This is a rather trippy place for a northerner. Christians can be found in Bible study at almost any turn – including in coffee shops, Irish pubs, and talking openly about the Bible just about any place. But, contrary to initial impressions, the Christians you see are not all the same.
Some come from home churches where they meet weekly around a bottle of wine and discuss what God has done in their lives during the last week. Others attend mega-church facilities where the music is led by nationally known Christian artists. Then there is everything in between – a flavor for every soul.
On any given Wednesday evening, Saturday night, or Sunday morning a people watcher can observe well-clad, impeccably dressed go-to-churchers mixed with tattoo & pieced, sandal and shorts wearing go-to-churchers. Some will delight in singing old hymns while others will gravitate towards new songs written by fellow believers. Many folks always carry their bible (whether KJV, NIV, or NASB) with them wherever they are, while others have sport a diversity of translations all in their iphone.
For some, all these variations within Christian are evidences that the church has become Babylon and are harbingers of the closeness of God’s judgment day. For others, these permutations proclaim a sovereign God’s love for unity in diversity. However you see it, the test of Nashville’s Christian character was revealed in its response to the recent and devastating flood. Everyone came out and worked side by side to help those in need.
But, what now? Will we all retire to our separate, carefully labeled strongholds or will we continue to work together for the good of our community? Some things ought not to change. We - in love for God - ought to continue to love one another.
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Always a good read, thanks!
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