Buff Scott Jr.
Sophomore
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2023
- Messages
- 462
- Reaction score
- 131
- Points
- 43
FROM ONE WHO ONCE KNEW IT ALL
"More than once over the past fifty years, I have felt legitimate shame upon encountering someone I knew in college, only to be told they remembered me for my dogmatism, intolerance, and certainty that I was correct."—The late Edward Fudge - 9/22/2013.
This brother goes on to relate how the Holy Spirit did some gardening in his life and changed him from someone who thought he had all of the answers to someone who discovered he had a lot to learn.
That was me, too! Praise my God, for He rescued me. I was once so knowledgeable of God's will that, even without having been conferred the supernatural gift of discernment, I was able to look into another person's heart and determine whether or not he was saved—particularly if his doctrinal posture did not carry the same echo as mine. In the process, I made a lot of enemies and portrayed myself as a foolish, wet-behind-the-ears novice in the faith.
In time, a patient and tolerant God reformed my thinking and my life and I began to acknowledge that wherever He has a child, I have a brother or a sister, although he doesn't part his hair on the same side as I do.
Alexander Campbell, reformer, wrote in one of his essays in the 1800s, a quote I often use, "I was once so strong a separatist that I would neither sing nor pray with another unless he was as perfect as I felt myself to be. I persisted in this most unpopular course until I came to the realization that if I position be sound, there could never be a church or congregation upon the face of the earth."
I have since lost track of the date of his statement, but I have always remembered it because of the wisdom it comprises. Campbell's remarks harmonize with the apostle Paul's instructions. "We who are strong [in the faith] have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak...Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God" (Rom. 15:1 & 7). Our blessed Lord has welcomed us, warts and all! Therefore, we should welcome one another, even though each of us is defective in his own way.—Buff.
