Now, I understand that false brothers and sisters exist in our church and we should be mindful of this (See Gal. 2:4). However, many of the criticisms I have seen appear to be aimed at family. As a believer I should not talk about the Church as something separate from me (though I am sure I am guilty of it). The Church consists of my family, my brothers and sisters in Christ and myself. On one breath many bloggers have declared how much they desire unity and in the next, harshly ridiculed the manner in which some have chosen to live their lives for Christ. So, what if a “weaker” (which I would identify with) Christian wants to have more accountability in a dating relationship or certain boundaries when it comes to friendships with the opposite gender? So what if one thinks certain movies are wrong to watch? So what, if one wants abstain from alcohol? Consider Paul’s words to the Corinthians, “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ,” (I Cor. 8:9-12). Paul does not tell us to condemn the weaker brother because the weaker brother is abstaining for the purpose of glorifying God. If our brothers and sisters have different convictions about how God is glorified (when it comes to things not explicitly laid out in scripture), then we should praise God that they, like us, desire to honor Christ.
Finally, we should consider the words of John who wrote, “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God.’ And hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandant we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother,” (I John 4:18-21). I am not saying we cannot disagree with our brothers and sisters (Lord knows that!), but I am saying, maybe, we should keep in mind that they are not our enemy but family when we do disagree.
I couldn't resist including this song. :)