Christian Unity

We went to the community church service today. It is a once a year joint celebration in a local park, followed by a potluck lunch. The speaker spoke on Christian unity in a way that reminded me of King's "I have a dream" speech. He painted a picture of a community of believers that loved God and one another, and reached out and supported each other in practical ways. Where each person was walking in the Spirit to serve God by caring for one another in that ways for which they were gifted. I love this idea. I feel passionately about it, in fact. What I don't understand is how exactly that works.

My husband and I have "gifts" that sometimes annoy others and disrupt what they are doing. Take my rant about MTI for instance. As far as I can see, that program is a profoundly bad idea. Yet my brothers and sisters in Christ think its the best thing since sliced bread. And really, if there is no other place for folks to connect with each other or introduction to the basics of the gospel, it may be better than the nothing that they had. While I can fully support drawing together to learn more, how can I smile and sit by while we pretend to minister instead of actually doing it? And if everyone smiles and acts like it is fulfilling, they will continue to do it, ignoring real needs and good doctrine (in my opinion!) So, I feel like it is my calling in situations like that to say something. I don't mean attack people or accuse anyone, I mean to talk about how it impacted me personally and hold it up against scripture.

So, does love keep showing up when it doesn't make people happy? We have felt like God was telling us to leave these people alone and stop sweating it. So we've left them (and ourselves) alone. But if we were to be in the body, somehow and some way, what would that look like? Our doctrine is different than other believers, though they don't seem to think so. It appears to me like believing the truth is critically important--spiritual health, community, and perhaps salvation itself rest on it. I don't know how to be quiet when the preaching violates what I understand of Christ. Not that I know or understand everything, but even my questions seem not okay. It isn't up for discussion--we all know that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. But why? And what does that mean for my present, my future? Why is that good news? I need to hear that stuff.