Winter begins today – at least it does in the Southern Hemisphere. That won’t matter for most of us (unless we’re packing for a trip to Buenos Aires), but it does us good to think about how much different life can be in another place. We see things through the eyes of our experiences assuming everyone else is (or should be) pretty much like us. We are sometimes surprised by differences.

I had a conversation with a husband and wife who spent a few weeks in Russia as volunteer missionaries. They had great trouble understanding that most Christians in Russia are Orthodox. They couldn’t connect what went on in Orthodox Churches with Christianity at all. Three hour services with chanting, incense, processions and elaborate ritual just couldn’t be Christianity.

I am not bothered that there are many kinds churches which do things in different ways. I am not troubled that a single congregation can have a variety of ways of worshiping or an array of assorted ministry opportunities. I am only concerned when others insist that only their way of being Christian is proper and no one should be different.

St. Paul dealt with the problem of differences in his letters to the Corinthians. There were divisions between rich and poor and between those who spoke in tongues and those who didn’t. There were ever divisions over who was baptized by whom. Paul condemned the divisiveness. We are baptized into Christ and are one body regardless of our differences.

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne