Stay in Step
It is sad but we often hear of conflict in churches and religious organizations. Sometimes causing a rupture. It has always been that way. The Apostle Paul kicked Mark off his travel team. Barnabas disagreed so much that he went his separate way with Mark. Paul later restored Mark as a fellow worker. I am sure all involved felt they had good reasons for their actions.
Yep, the church is made up of fallible humans like us. That situation was regrettable but God still used it in a number of ways. It is not the ideal.
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/gal.5.25.CSB
When I was in the military we would often march together as a unit. Our NCO’s would give commands and we would follow them in unison. Basic to all other commands was being, “in step”. If you were not “in step” the commands would not work. The formation would fall apart. Confusion would rule. The Officer in command would lose control and troops would be going in all directions. Only a few people being “out of step” would cause total confusion.
The solution. Stay in step. Follow commands. If you got out of step, you did a little skip and were back in step. Galatians tell us that since the Spirit of Jesus has given us new life we should be” in step” with him. Following his direction.
On occasion our NCO’s would march us close to another unit. We could hear the commands of both officers They wanted to see if we were listening to our own officer or listen to the other units commander. If some of us did, confusion broke out and our unit was no longer functioning as a unit. Be careful whose voice you are listening to. It may sound authentic but it isn’t your commander.
If you are in a situation where there is confusion among Followers of Jesus someone may be out of step.
Stay in step with him. Listen to his voice. Not our culture, not our denomination, not even our local church. But in step with the Spirit of Jesus. When confusion reigns someone is listening to the wrong commands and are out of step. I often need to do a skip and get back in step.