Kingdom Perspective国度观
Author: Ps Andrew Xu
“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
My pre-believer friends would often as me one question: “Why are there so many kinds of Christianity? Of course, what they were referring to are the Christian denominations. Some of them would even go further to ask if we “worship the same Jesus”. We might find their misunderstanding amusing, yet these innocent questions are their heartfelt views and reflect their observation and opinion of what the Christian faith is to them. Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Brethren, Anglicans, Independents. There are so many more denominations that I cannot even name. But to our pre-believing friends, they are all Christians, no matter what denomination they may come from. They do not know the difference.
There was this time, one of my friends who is a pre-believer was invited to attend a Christmas evangelistic event by his friend. He was again invited to another Christmas evangelistic event by a colleague at work. Both events happened on the same night coincidentally. He was shocked when his friend told him that his church’s activity is better and asked him not to go for his colleague’s event. He was perplexed by this situation, and he asked me why are there competition and comparison between churches? I did not know how to answer him and was feeling bad that he had to endure such an experience.
No matter what denomination we belong to, we are all one family in Christ. We all received the same salvation from Jesus and received the same Holy Spirit’s baptism. We should not just view brothers and sisters in our own church as family but those in other churches too. Extend help when help is needed, extend blessings when you are blessed. We are on the same mission, not competing but co-workers with each other. This is the kingdom perspective. No matter what church we belong to, we belong to the same kingdom of God.
We should start to network more with brothers and sisters in other churches. Understand each other better and create opportunities for collaboration in God’s ministries. When brothers and sisters from various churches come together to collaborate in God’s work, the world will then see us as a united body. How beautiful a testimony it will be.
文:许燕杰传道
“我们无论是犹太人，是希腊人，是作奴隶的，是自由的，都在那一位圣灵里受了洗，成为一个身体，都饮了那一位圣灵。”
我未信主的朋友时常会问的其中一个问题是：“为什么基督教有这么多种？”他们指的是为什么基督教有这么多的宗派。甚至有些朋友他们会问：“你们所信的耶稣是一样的吗？”我们可能会觉得很可笑，但他们问的却是他们心中真正的想法，也反映出他们对基督教的观察和看法。长老宗、卫理公会、信义宗、灵恩派、福音派、天主教、弟兄会、圣公会、独立教会，还有很多的宗派我自己都列不完。对一个未信主的朋友来说，就是基督教，里面的会友，不论是哪一个宗派都是基督徒。他们不懂也不管我们之间有什么分别。
有一次更好玩，我有一个朋友被邀请去参加一个圣诞的福音聚会。公司中也有一个同事，也是基督徒，同样也邀请他参加他们教会的福音聚会。恰好，两个聚会都在同一天晚上举行。他的朋友就跟他说他教会的比较好，叫他来他的教会，不要去同事的教会。这位还没有信主的朋友就问我，是不是教会跟教会之间也有竞争和比较？面对他的提问，我都不知道要怎样回复他，自己心里觉得不好意思。
不论属于什么宗派我们在基督里都是一家人。我们都是蒙了耶稣基督的救恩，受了同一个圣灵的洗礼。我们不应该只是看自己教会的弟兄姐妹为一家人，其他的教会中的弟兄姐妹也是一家人。有需要应该要彼此帮补，有好事要彼此分享。我们都是领受了同一个使命，不是竞争者而是同工，这就是国度观。无论属于哪一个教会，都是属于神的国度。
我们应该更多与其他教会的弟兄姐妹来往，了解他们的情况并创造 一些机会能够在神国度的事工上彼此配搭。当不同教会的弟兄姐妹一起为神的国度尽力的时候，世界也能够看到我们的合一，我们也因此能够为主作美好的见证。