Tunnel Vision

The first twelve years of my Christian journey were spent in a ministry that arose out of the Jesus People Movement of the early 1970's. I joined within a few months of its beginning. I did everything within the group- working in ministry businesses, living communally, finding friends, going to church. It amazes me how quickly we developed our own traditions and ways of interpreting the Bible. We never said we were the only church but we thought we were the best and the revelations that we received superior to others. Even when the leader made a major time frame prediction, and it failed to come to pass, that didn't shake us. We had tunnel vision.
God took me out of that group many years ago. Once I became Biblically literate, I reproduced the same patterns. I said, "I live by my convictions" a thousand times over many years before God hit me with a sledgehammer in the Spirit. Now I say, "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
In the course of my travels and interaction with sincere, genuine believers in all parts of the Body of Christ, I am struck by the wide diversity of fervently held views on everything from A to Z. (Also by the intense criticism of those with other understandings)Now if I come to you and say that Jesus is not God, or preach a different gospel (Galatians 1) then please don't listen to me. Rebuke me. But let us consider (2 Timothy 2:7) what one another has to say. Let us be teachable, which is an outgrowth of humility. (Phil 2:5-8) One need not accept 100% of what anyone has to say. Perhaps we glean only 10 or 20 per cent. I believe it imperative, especially for those in house churches, which tend to be small and isolated, to interact with the larger Body of Christ.