I have a book by Maurice Roberts called : " Great God Of Wonders " . It is a compilation of some of his Banner Of Truth editorials . There is a wonderful chapter which is the title of this thread . I think he states some valuable things that should come in handy , especially on the BB .
There are churches and fellowships which become so exclusive that they will have no fellowship with any but those of their own group . This is a regrettable and an unscriptural attitude to adopt . It is justified entirely to refuse to treat other churches as churches if they do not accept the sole authority of Scripture . But where other churches seek honestly to walk by the rule of Christ's Word , we are obliged to treat them as brethren and to have , at least , cordial and fraternal association . ' Salute every saint in Christ Jesus ' ( Phil.4:21 ) . 'Whereto we have already attained , let us walk by the same rule , let us mind the same thing ; ( Phil.3;16 ) .
The sad effect of having fellowship with none but our own group is that we unconsciously become convinced that 'we are the people and wisdom shall die with us ' (Job 12:2) . It is good to be made self-critical , lest we suppose ourselves above criticism . To mix only with those Christians who share our identical practice is to run the risk of not noticing that God gives excellent gifts also to those not of our group -- and sometimes God gives more grace and usefulness to them . This is not to say that we should give up our good practice because gifted and good men do not share it . But it should send us back to God's Word to 'prove all things' ( 1 Thess. 5:21 ) . Our best practice may , in some cases , be built on nothing more substantial than the venerable opinions of respected leaders and nothing more .
Hard as it is for our over-confident minds , it is good for us to meet with faithful men who are not of our group . It is good for us to be forced to test our beliefs and our practices . Where we are right we shall be the stronger ; where wrong , we shall be obliged to reform. ' As iron sharpeneth iron' , so brethren whose rule is Scripture will correct and refute one another by mutual converse and religious discussion . Even where we cannot adopt a brother's views or opinions as our own , we can submit ourselves to him to the extent that , respecting his sincerity , we permit ourselves to be influenced by him for good whenever possible .
If we are to submit to one another in the Lord , we shall have to learn to listen to one another in conversation . Fellowship is sharing and , in conversation , that means give and take . The art of conversation is to ask a few questions now and then , and to wait for an answer .
There are churches and fellowships which become so exclusive that they will have no fellowship with any but those of their own group . This is a regrettable and an unscriptural attitude to adopt . It is justified entirely to refuse to treat other churches as churches if they do not accept the sole authority of Scripture . But where other churches seek honestly to walk by the rule of Christ's Word , we are obliged to treat them as brethren and to have , at least , cordial and fraternal association . ' Salute every saint in Christ Jesus ' ( Phil.4:21 ) . 'Whereto we have already attained , let us walk by the same rule , let us mind the same thing ; ( Phil.3;16 ) .
The sad effect of having fellowship with none but our own group is that we unconsciously become convinced that 'we are the people and wisdom shall die with us ' (Job 12:2) . It is good to be made self-critical , lest we suppose ourselves above criticism . To mix only with those Christians who share our identical practice is to run the risk of not noticing that God gives excellent gifts also to those not of our group -- and sometimes God gives more grace and usefulness to them . This is not to say that we should give up our good practice because gifted and good men do not share it . But it should send us back to God's Word to 'prove all things' ( 1 Thess. 5:21 ) . Our best practice may , in some cases , be built on nothing more substantial than the venerable opinions of respected leaders and nothing more .
Hard as it is for our over-confident minds , it is good for us to meet with faithful men who are not of our group . It is good for us to be forced to test our beliefs and our practices . Where we are right we shall be the stronger ; where wrong , we shall be obliged to reform. ' As iron sharpeneth iron' , so brethren whose rule is Scripture will correct and refute one another by mutual converse and religious discussion . Even where we cannot adopt a brother's views or opinions as our own , we can submit ourselves to him to the extent that , respecting his sincerity , we permit ourselves to be influenced by him for good whenever possible .
If we are to submit to one another in the Lord , we shall have to learn to listen to one another in conversation . Fellowship is sharing and , in conversation , that means give and take . The art of conversation is to ask a few questions now and then , and to wait for an answer .