Nit Picking — A LifeWords Devotion

Christians can get very “tribal”. Instead of just being content belonging to Jesus, they need to join some group which claims to have more of the truth, or a superior perspective on the truth. And so much time and energy is spent on disputing with fellow believers that there is not much time and energy left over for fighting the real battles against the real enemies.

Our God is the only one who will finally pronounce the verdict on our lives. He may not be as concerned as we are about some issues we passionately embrace and argue about. He may rebuke us for our believing our tribe is better than all the other tribes. He may warn us about majoring on the minors, very much as the recipients of the above words were doing in Paul’s time in Rome.

It is natural to have disagreements on faith and life issues. It is good that there is diversity amongst the people of God. We are not monochrome robots, or puppets being manipulated on a divine string. It seems God is not as bothered as we are about differences of opinion. Though he is very much concerned about how we relate amidst those differences.

My first allegiance must always be to Jesus not my church tradition or human “tribe”. My battle is always with the evil one, not my fellow Christians.

Blessings,

David