Cheryl Schatz

tiro #37,

Good thoughts.  The only real purpose of calling someone a heretic is to divide from them.  The body of Christ doesn’t need anymore divisions.

How helpful would it be to have church after church and Christian after Christian calling their brothers and sisters in Christ as “heretics in this one area”.  We need to keep the term heretic and heresy in its proper biblical context.  A true heretic needs to be warned and then if unrepentant separated from.  Separation is a cleansing thing for the church.  Separation over non-essentials isn’t cleansing but is harming the church.  When we hold our view as more important to protect than we hold and protect a fellow brother in Christ, we have fallen from love.  Anyone who wants to do ministry outside of love is not walking in the true wisdom of the word.  It is only love that covers over the offense of the sin.  Without that love we are not being obedient to Christ.