If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 1 Jn 4:20 NKJV
My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 Jn 3:18 NKJV
“You believe that all believers are your brothers, don’t you?” she asks. “What kind of Christian are you?” she continues.
“Pentecostal,” you say.
“You Pentecostals talk about love a lot but what are you DOING to love the Uniting Church people around the corner?”
“We are very worried about the Uniting Church because they support homosexuality.”
“When you have prayer meetings in your church, do you pray for the Uniting Church Christians around the corner?”
“We pray against sin and wrong teaching in the traditional churches and we pray for homosexuals to get saved.”
“Yes, but do you pray for the Uniting Church people in the church around the corner, and the Baptist people in the church down the road?”
“Sometimes I pray for other churches.”
“But in your church prayer meetings, do your leaders pray for the believers in different denominations in your area?”
“I can’t remember. Maybe sometimes.”
“Maybe when? Maybe how often?”
“Our pastor used to be a Catholic. Sometimes he prays for Catholics to get saved.”
“But has your pastor ever prayed for God to bless the Presbyterian church or the Church of Christ down the road?”
“Not exactly. A few of our members used to be members of dead churches in our area. We invited them to hear a visiting preacher at our church and they got wonderfully saved.”
“But do you pray for the churches that they came from?”
“No. They are pretty dead, you know. I think the people would be better off going somewhere where there is spiritual life.”
“Do you think the people in the local Anglican church are saved?”
“How can they be saved if they just repeat words from the prayer book and sing the same old hymns? I have even heard the local Anglican priest favours gay marriage.”
“Didn’t Jesus command us not to judge?”
“But the Bible is against homosexuality. We have to stand for the truth.”
“But might there not be some sincere older people in that church who love God in spite of what their priest’s opinions might be?”
“How can they be sincerely converted if they put up with that anti-Christ teaching? If they are sincere, they will leave and go to a church where there is spiritual life.”
“So you consider the local Anglican church is dead?”
“Yes. One of our members came from there and he got saved in our church. She told us the Anglicans are dead and she should know. Her father is the priest.”
“You are Pentecostal, right?”
“Yes.”
“You believe Jesus is the resurrection and the life, right?”
“Yes.”
“You believe God can save religious Anglicans who are spiritually dead, right?”
“Of course.”
“Do you believe Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead?”
“Yes, in John chapter 11.”
“If God can give new life to individuals, can’t he also give life to groups or communities of people?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“Do you believe God has blessed your church?”
“Yes, very much.”
“Why has God blessed your church?”
“Because we stand by the Word of God.”
“So you believe you have earned God’s favour?”
“Not really.”
“But you just said God blesses you because you are true to the Bible teachings.”
“Yes.”
“So that means God blesses you for being good Christians.”
“The Bible does teach that God blesses faith and obedience.”
“But what about GRACE? Doesn’t that mean the undeserved favour of God.”
“Yes.”
“So why don’t you pray for God to give more grace to the Anglicans?”
“ We do pray for people to get saved by the grace of Jesus. I guess that includes religious Anglicans.”
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