One of my good friends from Furman just recently kicked off a blog. He’s a smart guy and his first post made me think. Here’s another juxtaposition — this one dealing with unity in the Gospel:
Bearing
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:1-3)
United
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. (1 Cor 1:10)
Accursing
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Gal 1:8-10)
Note: These types of posts are intentionally vague. My goal is to spurn thoughts and even comments and conversation. Feel free to share your thoughts.
Making It Clear 
July 21, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Nice I think Paul gets it right in Galatians, we need to stop trying to change the gospel so that it is not offensive. The Gospel should be offensive because it confronts us with the very sinful nature of our lives, and without understanding this, we can’t understand our need for Jesus.
July 24, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Great verses…interesting when juxtaposed with Goose’s post. It isn’t that I have a problem with people calling out falsehoods in people’s preaching, or even saying that they will not commune with false teachers, but when they do it in a way that, in and of itself, is contrary to the gospel of grace. Calling people “weenies” and “cowards” or portraying them as somehow of a lesser intelligence does not promote the gospel. This passage from Galatians is not about disunity, as you confirmed by quoting the 1 Corinthians passage. It is about promoting the TRUE gospel, which I fully affirm. I would only question the value of name-calling and mud-slinging, which doesn’t seem to promote any kind of “good news” at all. I think Rob Bell puts it really well: he mentions in one sermon that we as Christians can exalt the Bible above what the Bible exalts! If we exalt the gospel (and I mean that in a theological, bridge-diagram sort of way, because in the real sense “God is the Gospel”: thank you John Piper…) but do not honor Christ in the way that we do it, I think we lose sight of why we even HAVE a true gospel! And in doing so, we turn our eyes from Jesus onto theological quibbling. Mind you, I think the quibbling needs to happen, but it isn’t the END. It is only the means! (Props to LP 2008).
July 24, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Last note: I also want to take into consideration how much the judgementalism of some conservative churches gives more creedence to the Emergent movement. I think part of the reason that the movement has had the success that it has is simply because lots of people are fed up with the judgemental, dogmatic, and ungraceful church that they, unfourtunately, have grown up around. The grace that they give, no matter how mislead, IS something that many times orthodox churches do not display, and that attracts people. So my question is, does very public and very harsh rebuking of the movement and its leaders bring more people farther into communities of truth, or farther into communities of falsehood?