Christians United, Colossians 2:16-17
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
As I was reading some articles in Christianity Today the other night, I was baffled by the large amount of divisions within the body of Christ. I was alarmed at the complicated politics that seemed to surround the majority of the church today. Not only is it Protestants and Catholics any more, the divisions are far deeper than this. Within Protestantism alone dwells several different denominations, and within those denominations the congregations themselves are divided. There are liberals and conservatives, �left-wing� liberals and �right-wing� conservatives. The body of Christ has been divided by the little things, splitting doctrinal hairs, if you will.
But Paul, in Colossians 2:16-17, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit shows us that such things as what festivals we celebrate and what we do with the Sabbath day are not the point, these things were all foreshadowing the coming of the Messiah. When Jesus came, He fulfilled all these things, and so we have nothing to do but trust in Him alone. It doesn�t necessarily matter what we do on certain holidays, whether we eat meat or not. These things are irrelevant to salvation. Christ is all that matters.
What are the differences between Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian? Are they not all Christians? Should we be divided over such small things as how we take communion, how we baptize, and other man-made traditions? Never! We are all of Christ; we should all be united as one.
There are, of course, traditions that men have brought into the church that are non-Biblical, and such traditions should be discarded. Anyone who professes to be a Christian ought to follow what the Bible teaches, and anything that contradicts what the Bible teaches should be frowned upon and tossed out, removed and repented of. To act against the word of God is to act against God. God gave us the Bible to show us His will on certain matters. We need not question God about things that the Bible has a definite answer for; He has already provided the answer to our question.
We should not condemn our brothers and sisters in Christ because they celebrate holidays a little differently than us, nor should we allow the body of Christ to be divided over such small issues. Jesus Himself said that a house divided against itself cannot stand. How will we stand against the evil forces on this earth if we cannot stop squabbling amongst ourselves?
Each one professing the name of Christ should look to Him and Him alone for guidance, and should not hold the traditions of men higher than the word of God, the Bible. God�s word gives us a perfect example of how the church should be run, and those areas that it doesn�t mention in detail we ought not argue over, since we cannot say with assurance that this way or that way is the correct way. Those things that are against the teachings of the Bible ought not to be embraced, but rather shunned and removed.
We are so prone to making our faith into a man-made religion. We want rules and regulations to follow, something in black and white that we can see. But God doesn�t want it that way; He wants to have a relationship with us! He wants to guide our every step and lead our every move. He wants us to depend on Him, not on rules or institutions. It�s all about Him, it�s all about Jesus.