DAILY HOMILIES #doctrine

Watch out for envy in your heart. Ask yourself: “Are there certain people I don’t like just because they are good at what they do?” Celebrate the gifts of others. Avoid developing hatred for someone simply because they do not attend the same church or hold the same doctrines as you. They may interpret the Bible differently, but this does not necessarily mean your interpretation is superior.

Last Sunday, we read how the issue of circumcision brought a debate in the church at Antioch between Paul and the men who had come from Judea. Unfortunately, one of the principal sources of disunity among Christians today is arguments over matters of doctrine. In his prayer for unity, Jesus said: “that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (John 17:21) Disunity among Christians is truly a scandal to non-Christians. One may wonder: Why is it that all Christians are using the same bible yet they never agree among themselves?