Where am I to sit?

I had a little eye-opener today when the drill sergeant asked for a show of hands from the four platoons in Bravo Company (my company). First Platoon raised their hands and they were all seated at the tables at the front left of the classroom. Second Platoon was all seated in the rear on the left except for one lone sailor that was seated in the front right corner of the classroom. If you are already thinking that that lone sailor was me, then you are correct. I was seated in the middle of 3^rd Platoon. It has been this way since Sunday afternoon when our classroom training began.

As I thought back on it, I realized that when I arrived to the classroom on Sunday, most everybody else was already seated (I wasn’t late), so I chose a spot to sit where there was room and I could meet a couple of people I didn’t yet know. As it turns out, I was seated in the midst of 3^rd Platoon. It is kind of a funny story, but it surprised me that nobody bothered to tell me that we were seated by platoon. I guess they just assumed I knew what I was doing and that I knew we were seated by platoons.

Sometimes we assume too much. Sometimes we assume that people are Christian or know what it means to be a Christian. Sometimes we leave them to their assumptions about what it means to be Christian and sometimes those assumptions leave them seated in a false teaching church; one that is not really Christian after all.

It is a delicate task trying to convince the misguided that they are wrong especially when they read and teach from the same Scriptures. But here is where the Ecumenical Creeds and the rest of our confessional writings help us remain seated in the pews of Christendom and direct others that they are seated in the wrong area by pointing to the truth that is Christianity. They remind us that the heretical battles of today are really the same as those fought yesterday. They don’t assume that we know anything, but instead they instruct us where the Church is to be seated and assure us that there we will hear the truth and the truth will set us free.

Peace to all in Christ, this night in 2012. TES