Christians have a terrible tendency to exaggerate minor differences, as though every difference in religion were a differing religion. This all-or-nothing attitude is divisive and rejects the legitimate distinctions that can and should exist between our Lord’s disciples. Though Christ’s troops may vary in their colors, arms, and armor, we are nonetheless fellow soldiers fighting in the same army against the same enemies under the same captain for the same cause. And we look forward to the day when Christ’s saints will at last stand together in perfect harmony and peace.
Jeremiah Burroughs anticipates the time when the current conflicts between believers and churches ceases and reveals that we were all united in Christ despite our differences.
The saints are like branches of trees during a storm. You will see the branches beat upon one another, as if they would beat one another to pieces, as if armies were fighting, but this is but while the wind, while the storm lasts. Wait awhile and you will see every branch standing in its own order and beauty. Why? Because they are all united in one root.
When Christ returns He will still the gusts and storms of this fallen world as He did the winds and waves on the Sea of Galilee. Then it will be evident that we are all rooted in the same tree and attached to the same vine. May this motivate us to live in greater unity today. Let minor differences distinguish us but not divide us.
Based on Jeremiah Burroughs, Peace and Healing, pp 45–46
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