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This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
2 Corinthians 13: 11 - 31
These are the final lines to a letter, summarising what has gone before. The Corinthians were a community divided primarily by wealth; they are the ones who split around various leaders. Hence they are told 'agree with one another'.
I doubt this worked at the time. Paul could hardly tell them to disagree! But in reality it is very difficult for Christians to agree. Wesley covered this in 'The Catholic Spirit' and I've written about it in a previous post.
It isn't always possible to agree with other Christians. Various groups of Christians believe things that are mutually exclusive. Do I believe one thing when with one group and another with a second?
We need to find some means to live together in love and peace; life lived according to the grace of God, in peace.
Indeed it is 'love and peace' that is really significant. Most of Paul's letters begin and / or end with 'love and peace' and this was a revelation at the time. This is what marks out the Christian community from other communities. For the Romans, peace was through victory rather than love.
And that's the point. If I set out to win the argument, the best I can hope for is peace through victory. Somehow our calling is to find peace through love. It can't be simply agreeing with others for the sake of a quiet life. This implies the community needs to find a consensus of some sort. It cannot mean we all agree with the most powerful.
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