I received the following in an email from a school where I've been taking some online courses. I found it to be uplifiting, and thought others might too. Sorry if it's a little long...
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What seemed to be a devastating loss for the church was rectified as an incredible opportunity for the love of Christ to be shared — through Pastor Clements and through the surrounding community.
So then, case closed — right? Not even close! You really need to hear, as the late Paul Harvey might have phrased it, “the rest of the story.” And what a story it was, involving the incredible outpouring of love upon the stricken church by the surrounding community. Here are but a few instances:
Does all this support the claim that only by abandoning personal beliefs can one individual help another? Absolutely not! I can assure you these four men, each coming from a totally different theological viewpoint will definitely not soon be seen standing around a campfire, clasping hands and singing kumbaya. It’s just not going to happen.
But I also think it can be said that not one of those four men felt that somehow through this experience of giving and receiving he had compromised one inch of conviction, but rather had enjoyed a mile of compassion. After Clements relayed this story, I sat there thinking that our doctrinal differences should never be considered unimportant; however, very few are all-important.
A famous evangelist in the 1930s and 40s, known for his hard shell, “my way or the highway” biblical convictions, also tempered them with this statement: “If an old hound dog would come trotting into my little town barking for Jesus, I’d fetch a pan of water for him, give him a part of my lunch, and pat him on the head!” Hopefully, my reaction would be the same, and if it turned out he was a Baptist dog, I’d probably share some of my dessert!
Some 30 centuries ago, King Solomon closed the final of his three books as follows: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter..." (Ecclesiastes 12:12). And what might that be? In our present confused and cruel world, I believe we can become involved in two ways:
Involved in the Word of God — “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).
And involved in the world of men — “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
CONCERNING DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES
I recently had the privilege of conducting a weekend Bible conference for a Liberty Home Bible Institute graduate, Pastor Kyle Clements. Last year, his church was torched and burned to the ground in a senseless act of vandalism. Shortly after, the culprits — two very young men — were caught, tried, and sent to prison. However, Clements felt led to visit the two men in prison, assuring them of his forgiveness and desire to help them in any way possible. It wasn’t long before one of the young men had accepted Christ, and the other seemed close behind him.CONCERNING DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES
What seemed to be a devastating loss for the church was rectified as an incredible opportunity for the love of Christ to be shared — through Pastor Clements and through the surrounding community.
So then, case closed — right? Not even close! You really need to hear, as the late Paul Harvey might have phrased it, “the rest of the story.” And what a story it was, involving the incredible outpouring of love upon the stricken church by the surrounding community. Here are but a few instances:
- A Pentecostal pastor handed Clements a $1,500 check from his church. But when he politely attempted to return it, pointing out the insurance company had agreed to cover all costs (which they did, to the tune of $812,000), the check bearer responded: “Brother Kyle, you don’t understand...you might not need this, but my people needed to do it!”
- A Roman Catholic priest called, offering to make his church building available right after the 8 a.m. Sunday mass for as long as needed.
- Another pastor (whom Clements had never met) drove into the parking lot of the burned-out church and handed him an envelope containing a sizeable amount of money, saying he had seen the news report on TV and wanted to help. With those words, he quickly drove away, without even giving his name.
Does all this support the claim that only by abandoning personal beliefs can one individual help another? Absolutely not! I can assure you these four men, each coming from a totally different theological viewpoint will definitely not soon be seen standing around a campfire, clasping hands and singing kumbaya. It’s just not going to happen.
But I also think it can be said that not one of those four men felt that somehow through this experience of giving and receiving he had compromised one inch of conviction, but rather had enjoyed a mile of compassion. After Clements relayed this story, I sat there thinking that our doctrinal differences should never be considered unimportant; however, very few are all-important.
A famous evangelist in the 1930s and 40s, known for his hard shell, “my way or the highway” biblical convictions, also tempered them with this statement: “If an old hound dog would come trotting into my little town barking for Jesus, I’d fetch a pan of water for him, give him a part of my lunch, and pat him on the head!” Hopefully, my reaction would be the same, and if it turned out he was a Baptist dog, I’d probably share some of my dessert!
Some 30 centuries ago, King Solomon closed the final of his three books as follows: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter..." (Ecclesiastes 12:12). And what might that be? In our present confused and cruel world, I believe we can become involved in two ways:
Involved in the Word of God — “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).
And involved in the world of men — “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).
