Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.
It was a mid April afternoon when our two children, Mika, and Andrea ventured outside to build a snowman in the wet late season snow. Mika was our exchange student from Japan and Andrea was an exchange student from Brazil who was living with a host family nearby. Being a late season snow it was perfect for packing.
As the first ball of snow grew larger in diameter the debate began. Our children thought the ball was large enough and wanted to begin working on the second of three balls of snow for the snowman. Mika was surprised and said that in Japan they made the body from one large ball of snow and then put a second ball on top as its head. Meanwhile,
Andrea stood to one side and said nothing about the number of balls or their size.
As the three continued to discuss how the snowman would be built, Mika turned to Andrea and asked how many balls of snow they used to make snowmen in Brazil. Andrea’s eyes grew big in surprise and exclaimed, “Mika, we don’t have snow in Brazil.”
Andrea’s response was enough to get everyone laughing and it was decided to build an American snowman since it was American snow.
The four young folks, coming from three different cultures, having different experiences and expectations, were able to work together and accomplish their goal. That is how a church should be.
Every person who attends a church, any church, has different experiences, expectations and abilities. Sometimes our past experiences and expectations bump against that of another and debate begins. Debate is often a good thing because it allows us to grow in understating and often gives insights not previously considered. However, when one or more parties insist that their opinion is the only one worth being considered; debate fails.
When new things come our way it is more helpful to consider the possibilities they offer than it is to reject them because they are different or not the way we have done things before.