Alright, let’s get down to it. Christian unity. Accepting all Christians, all baptized followers of Jesus, for the sake of the world. Being one with all disciples of all denominations. Worshiping and serving together with all Christians and churches.
Well, what about the Christian who disagrees with me on divorce and remarriage? Or weekly communion? Or church leadership structures or church names?
Yes, let’s go there.
In Romans 14-15, the divisive issues of the day are eating meat versus vegetables and the observance of holy days. The apostle Paul certainly has his opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong. He has his convictions on these divisive topics. But in Christ Jesus, he says, those things don’t matter.
“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters… Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand… We all belong to the Lord.” ~Romans 14:1-8
Do you believe you are perfect? Do you think you’ve got everything figured out perfectly? Do you believe everything in the Bible exactly right, do you worship God perfectly, do you live God’s will righteously and without fault, do you practice your faith perfectly? Do you have all of God’s will perfectly interpreted and figured out? No?
Then how are you saved? What covers you in your honest shortcomings?
The grace of God. His matchless grace.
Do you believe the Churches of Christ have every single thing perfectly interpreted and figured out? Are the Churches of Christ doing everything exactly right? No?
Well, what covers us in our innocent misunderstandings? How can we be saved? God’s grace. His wonderful grace.
You think there’s any chance at all the Methodists might be doing something right according to to the will of God that we’re not? You think the Presbyterians might possibly have something figured out that we don’t? What if First Baptist’s understanding of something is fuller and richer and more in line with God’s will than ours is?
What covers us in our sincere misunderstandings? What saves us when we don’t have everything perfectly right?
God’s grace. His limitless grace.
Okay, let’s flip it around. Let’s assume that we have it right on the Lord’s Supper and the Methodists have it wrong. Let’s pretend that we’re right about baptism and the plurality of elders, and the Presbyterians and Baptists are wrong. Does God’s grace not cover them completely? Are they any less saved?
Yeah, but they’re wrong! We’re right!
So, you get God’s grace where we’re messing it up, but they don’t? We get God’s grace to cover us, but nobody else does? Why?
Because we’re trying harder. We’re more honest with the Bible. We’re more sincere.
That might be the most arrogant thing a disciple of Jesus could ever say.
The grace of God applies to both conduct and doctrine. We are all saved by grace through faith in Jesus. We’re all in the same fellowship, the same boat. So, why do we have such divisions among us Christians? Because we confuse doctrinal issues we feel strongly about with “faith.” Because we refuse to consider our own positions or opinions as disputable. Because our distorted theology of grace sometimes depends on the hot church topic of the moment or which preacher is writing what book or what church is doing something differently. We define ourselves by our differences from others instead of by the relationship we all have with God in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3 says you’re still worldly. You’re acting like mere people. You’re being worldly.
Yeah, that’s right. That is how the world acts, maybe more so now than ever. If I disagree with one politician or one celebrity on any one point, I’ll vilify that whole person. I’ll write him off. Everything that person says now is wrong. Everything he does, everything about him is wrong. So, I don’t see anything redeemable about his party or his movie or his team. A politician could say the sky is blue, 2+2=4, and Blue Bell ice cream tastes great and some of us would disagree with him because he’s not in our party.
We can do the same thing in Christ’s Church. If I disagree on one point with any Christian or congregation or denomination, I vilify that Christian or congregation or denomination. Everything about that Christian or their church is wrong. So, I can’t fellowship or worship with them.
And the unbelieving world looks at that and says, “No, thanks.”
A religion as visibly divided as ours can hardly reflect the truth. It reflects the fallen world, not the glory of our God. Our Christian unity will have an eternal impact on the world. But the world has to see it. It can’t just reside in our hearts and minds. Christian unity must be lived out loud and seen in public. It has to be visible. And when it is, the world will believe.
Peace,
Allan
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