I choose unity, not uniformity

And yes, there's a difference

Unity does not equal uniformity.

Sometimes I share some of my beliefs I hold that aren’t exactly mainstream. It never fails to make some waves, and I’m definitely not aiming for that. Let’s talk about it for a second.

Most people I connect with online would say they’ve deconstructed their beliefs somewhat or they consider themselves deconstructing. In other words the faith they grew up in probably does not match their current beliefs. I grew up holiness pentecostal but my beliefs are much different now because intense study of scripture, as well as Holy Spirit led me here. But we all have to accept that we’re not going to agree on everything and that’s ok.

It’s impossible for the doctrines I believe to all be 100% correct. I am inevitably wrong about some of the things I believe.

Same for you.

I remember sharing off-handedly on the Ezer Rising Facebook page, a post about not following the 10 commandments. A surprisingly large number of people unfollowed the page. I didn’t even realize it would be controversial! I guess I thought it would be common knowledge that I believe in following the law of the new covenant, which is LOVE (love God & love your neighbor as yourself). Side note: Following the law of Love will actually keep a person from breaking those infamous 10 commandments. Similarly, at one point I remarked that I don’t believe in a sinful nature or that we’re born inherently bad/sinful. I just want to be clear that it truly is ok for you to not believe the same things as me, and vice versa. I’m fully aware that I could be wrong. I’m counting on being wrong about some things, because nobody has perfect doctrine on every single thing.

In fact, I’ll never forget the day that the Holy Spirit rocked my world by whispering “Not everyone who disagrees with you is wrong” into my spirit. Pride tells us we have to have it all figured out, and pride keeps us from growing.

Some people feel that when we disagree about things as believers, it causes division. I disagree. I don’t think we have to agree on everything in order to have unity. I believe there can be unity AND diversity. In fact, I believe that unity REQUIRES diversity.

So what is Unity?

I really with all my heart believe that when Love is the energy behind all that we do, we can unify under that. Is there a hell? Or is there not a hell? We will all land in various places and opinions on that topic. But it doesn’t matter. Arguing won’t help us find Ultimate Truth. You may be right & I’m wrong. Or maybe I’m right and you’re wrong. Who knows? We don’t know for sure right now. We only know in part, on this side of heaven. We both have our interpretations of scripture so we can both form intelligent theories. We can do word studies, and read the opinions of academics who have specialized in this area of research. And yet we still only know in part. No amount of being offended with one another will change the truth. I do believe in a heaven, and I believe that when we cross over there, we will think a lot of these arguments or disagreements were so silly & trivial.

Even if you believe very differently than I do, I want you to know that you’re welcome here. If you’re willing, I believe we can unify under God’s Love… God WHO IS LOVE.

LOVE is the only perfect doctrine I know. 💜