When you drive around the town of Fairfield, or even Freestone County at large, one thing you’re going to see is churches! You’ll see numerous places of worship that meet at various times of the week and offer a variety of methods and practices with which to grow in our knowledge of God. For some there will be the claim, “Look at all these different churches, these Christians can’t agree on anything!” They might have even seen the name outside the building and cast judgment without even stepping inside! “Oh, that’s a Baptist church, I know what THEY believe!” Oh, those are Methodists, I’ve heard some things about them!
Here is the reality of human beings, we like to judge. We like to judge because at the end of the day, in the deepest recesses of our soul, we want to be superior to everyone else. Anyone who can pass by a community of people and cast judgment is operating on an extremely dangerous level of arrogance. This is the case for both those who do not belong to a faith community and self-proclaiming lifelong Christians. To simply sit in judgment or pass aspersions without knowing the full story is something that hinders a soul from fully experiencing the measure and depth of God.
Each church or faith community in our town has a story. It is a story of individuals coming together to create a space to worship God in a way that they find best exemplifies their relationship with the divine. And by the way, these change over time! There is not a single church in our community that has been around longer than a year that isn’t different from where it started. This is a testament to the constant influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit! Each church has created a table in which members of the world at large can come and learn more about this man, this messiah, named Jesus. No table is superior to the other, and no table is inferior to the other, as long as they are leading to the same Messiah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
If you are reading this as one of those who see these different churches as an example of division as opposed to diversity, maybe think of it this way. In each family, there are members with different strengths, roles, talents, and yes even faults. But they are all part of the same family! Each church in our community provides strengths, talents, and yes even faults. But they are all part of the Kingdom of God! The Book of Romans states, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” What a fitting description of the churches in Freestone County.
Let me conclude with this story, this past Monday I (a Methodist Pastor) was able to preach at Faith Academy (our local private Christian School). I was invited by a pastor in the Church of Christ here in town. When I arrived I was greeted by a friend of mine whose son attends the school, he happens to be an Assembly of God Pastor. Afterward, I went and grabbed coffee with another friend of mine who is a Baptist Pastor. The morning concluded with a meeting with my Music Director who is an Ordained Presbyterian Elder. Now I am sitting and writing an article for the Newspaper that will be sent out to numerous persons of numerous denominational or religious ties! Isn’t the scope of Christ’s influence amazing?
The table of faith that our community offers is vast and bountiful, full of people who are eager to share the love of God with those in need. Do not let their variety scare you, instead see it as the very living representation of the all-encompassing love of Christ Jesus.
And there’s a seat at the table for all of us, by the way!
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Pastor Mike McVey
Minister – First United Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ACS Chaplain – United States Coast Guard, Station Galveston TX
