Category: Unity (Page 2 of 8)

Nuts and Bolts

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

The Will of Jesus to Practice

More and more research is being released about the effects of cell phones and digital technology, telling us what we already know, what we’ve known for 20 years. But somehow it keeps being presented and received as groundbreaking. What? Cell phone bans result in academic improvement? No way!! Who could have ever guessed that? The latest is coming out of the Dallas School District where Robert T. Hill Middle School banned all phones on campus five years ago. According to school officials there, the campus culture has shifted. There has been a 75% decrease in bullying (I’m not sure how they measure that), and a 13-point gain in the number of students meeting the standards of the STAAR tests. According to the story from Channel 5 in Fort Worth, the biggest pushback generally comes from the parents. Not the students. Parents complain they need to be in constant contact with their children. Of course, because we want to raise our kids to need to live with us into their 30s.

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Our first “4 Midland” pulpit swap and Thanksgiving service is this Sunday. I’m preaching at First Baptist this Sunday morning and Steve Brooks, our brother from First Methodist, is preaching here at GCR. Darin Wood, the pastor at First Baptist is preaching at First Presbyterian while their pastor, Steve Schorr, is preaching at First Methodist. And then all four of our churches are coming together Sunday evening for a combined Thanksgiving service. In advance of these glorious events, I’m posting this week about Christian unity as a gift of God to receive, our Church of Christ heritage to embrace, and, today, the will of Jesus to practice.

My prayer, Jesus says, is that all of them may be one. May they be brought to complete unity. It’s this unity, this uncompromising love and acceptance we have for all baptized disciples of Christ, that will prove to the world Jesus really is who we say he is. Our unflinching commitment to love and accept and unite with all Christian brothers and sisters will astonish the world!

Well, Allan, not ALL people who’ve been baptized. A lot of people are not baptized like we are. A lot of churches don’t do the Lord’s Supper like we do. We can’t worship with and have fellowship with ALL Christians.

That’s why the Church is not astonishing the world.

Our Lord’s prayer is for unity. Christ’s will is for complete unity among all his followers. We need to get there. So, let’s lay it out.

If God accepts someone, I have to also. I can’t be a sterner judge than the perfect judge. I don’t know anybody who would say, “Well, God certainly accepts this woman as a full child of his, but she doesn’t meet all of MY standards. I’M not going to accept her.” Nobody would say that. The truth is, I must fellowship everybody who has fellowship with God. All the saved. Everybody who’s saved.

So, who is saved?

Well, all those who hear, believe, repent, confess, and are baptized (by the way, that’s another Church of Christ creed).

All those who hear what? The Gospel! And believe what? The Gospel! Who repent and confess what? The Gospel!

Okay, what’s the Gospel? That Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, that he alone is Lord, and that we’re saved by faith in him.

The Bible sums it up in several places, but that’s pretty good. Believe in Jesus as the eternal Son of God, declare him Lord, and, by faith, submit to his lordship in baptism. We’ve never required anything else. The Church through the centuries has never demanded anything more. We’ve never asked anybody their position on atonement theory or women’s roles before they’re baptized. We don’t put a person in the water and then catalogue all their beliefs on the plurality of elders and the age of the earth before they’re saved. Now, some of us try to do that after they’re saved! We can act like a health club sometimes: “The first month is free but then, after that, you’re going to pay through the nose! For the rest of your life!” No, that stuff is not the Gospel. The apostle Paul says nothing but Christ and him crucified.

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” ~Romans 15:7

We are called to accept others by the same standard as when Jesus Christ accepted us, to continually accept others based on the way they were accepted at their baptisms–the way you were accepted at your baptism. Your acceptance by God is a gift. The fact that Christ Jesus accepts you is nothing but pure grace. Now, show that same grace, share that same gift, to everyone who calls Jesus Lord.

Peace,

Allan

Our CofC Heritage to Embrace

The Cowboys ushered in the experimental phase of the 2024 season last night by getting blown out at home. Again. Among the miscues and missed opportunities against the Texans, the mass of penalties and the highly questionable play calls, double-fumbles, a boinked field goal, and a botched fake punt, Mike McCarthy’s biggest post-game regret was that he didn’t give Trey Lance a couple of series at the end. The roof fell down on the Cowboys last night, both figuratively and literally. Forget the Lombardi Trophy, this team can’t even compete for the Governor’s Cup. I’m reminded of the immortal words of Bum Phillips after his Houston Oilers dismantled the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in 1978, “I’d rather be Texas’ Team than America’s Team any day.”

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My gifted and talented brother, Keith Stanglin, the executive director of Center for Christian Studies in Austin, has written a brilliant article on the new Apple Intelligence commercials that are airing multiple times during almost all college and NFL football games. You’ve seen the spots: the mom making an AI generated video for her husband after she forgets his birthday, the guy in the boardroom who uses AI to generate a report after being called on the carpet for not doing his work, the employee sending an AI email to his boss that hides the fact he’s a disengaged slob at work. Keith points out the obvious. These commercials don’t try to hide what AI is all about; the ads emphasize it as the selling point. Laziness and deception. Cheating. Hiding. The old vices are the new virtues. AI calls evil good and good evil. And most of our world embraces it giddily. Thank you, Keith, for your words of wisdom and warning. This is a great read.

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In advance of our first annual “4 Midland” Thanksgiving service this Sunday at First Baptist, I’m writing this week about Christian unity. Yesterday I posted about Christian unity among all disciples of Jesus across all denominations as a gift from God to receive. Today, I’d like to present Christian unity as our Church of Christ heritage to embrace.

215 years ago, Thomas Campbell was preaching fiery sermons about Christian unity in western Pennsylvania. His convictions about the unity of all Christians and those sermons got him censured by his presbytery and then fired by his synod. At the same time, another Presbyterian preacher in Kentucky, Barton Stone, dissolved his presbytery to unite with everyone who desired to move away from denominational labels and just be known as Christians. In September of 1809, Campbell wrote what he called the Declaration and Address of the Christian Association of Washington County. It was a call to Christian unity based on Jesus’ prayer in John 17 and on the whole of Scripture that presents complete unity as God’s holy will for his people.

Some of the Declaration and Address is tough sledding; it was written over two centuries ago. But I love reading it. It’s our founding document in Churches of Christ. This document is where we get, “Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent,” although I’m afraid we’ve become a people who speak where the Bible speaks and, where the Bible is silent, we have even more to say. Our foundational Church of Christ creeds come from the Declaration and Address. “Christians only, but not the only Christians.” “No creed but Christ,” which, ironically, is a creed. I can’t find, “guide, guard, and direct” in this document, but I know it must be in there.

The Declaration and Address reminds us in Churches of Christ that we began as a Christian unity movement with a deep conviction that all Christians are one. All Christians are together. Our unity in Christ transcends all denominational differences and it should be demonstrated in visible and public ways for the sake of an unbelieving world.

I’ll share just a couple of passages:

Proposition 1 – That the church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one; consisting of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the scriptures, and that manifest the same by their tempers and conduct.

Proposition 2 – They ought to receive each other as Christ Jesus hath also received them to the glory of God. And for this purpose, they ought to all walk by the same rule, to mind and speak the same thing; and to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Proposition 9 – That all that are enabled, thro’ grace, to make the Christian confession and to manifest the reality of it in their tempers and conduct, should consider each other as the precious saints of God, should love each other as brethren, children of the same family and Father, temples of the same Spirit, members of the same Body, subjects of the same grace, objects of the same divine love, bought with the same price, and joint heirs of the same inheritance. Whom God has thus joined together no man should dare to put asunder.

Introduction, pages 9-10 – Not that we judge ourselves competent to effect such a thing; we utterly disclaim the thought. But we judge it our bounded duty to make the attempt, by using all due means in our power to promote it; and also, that we have sufficient reason to rest assured that our humble and well meant endeavors shall not be in vain in the Lord. The cause that we advocate is not our own peculiar; it is a common cause, the cause of Christ and our brethren of all denominations. All that we presume to do, then, is to do what we conceive to be our duty, in connexion with our brethren; to each of whom it equally belongs, as to us, to exert themselves for this blessed purpose.

It was a radical, mind-blowing vision. Christians only. Unity in Christ. For the sake of the world. Putting aside personal preferences and tearing down denominational walls. Campbell and Stone dreamed and prayed for the one Church we read about in our Bibles, the one Church Jesus prayed for at that last supper, the physical and tangible unity of Christ’s Church that proves to the world he really is Lord.

It was risky. Dangerous. It cost them their jobs. It cost them relationships with family and friends and professional colleagues. But Campbell and Stone valued the sound doctrine of Christian unity more than they valued their own church’s distinctions that divided them.

A couple of times in the Declaration and Address, Campbell writes, “What? Shall we pray for a thing and not strive to obtain it?”

Peace,

Allan

A Gift from God to Receive

Christian unity is a big deal to our Lord Jesus. At the end of his beautiful prayer recorded in John 17, on the last night before his sacrificial death, Jesus prays for the unity of all future disciples. He asks the Father to give all future followers, all future Christians, the same unity that he and the Father share. This unity, this oneness, Jesus says, is a critical component for world evangelism.

“…so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” ~John 17:21
“…to let the world know that you sent me.” ~John 17:23

Our badge of discipleship is not baptism. The world doesn’t know we’re disciples and that Jesus really is the Savior of the world because we’ve been baptized. And the world isn’t convinced by our doctrines or worship practices, either. The world doesn’t really care about those things at all. Jesus says the world will be changed when we show them our unity.

It’s important to know that Christian unity is not something for which we have to work. Christian unity is a gift from God to receive. It’s not something we create; we don’t cause Christian unity. It’s already been given to us; it’s already the eternal reality. It’s just a matter of whether we recognize it or not, whether we choose to live into it or not.

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.” ~John 17:22

It’s a gift. Ephesians 4:3-6 makes it very plain. It doesn’t say make every effort to create the unity. It’s not make every effort to cause the unity or bring about the unity. It’s “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” Make every effort to acknowledge and guard and practice the unity of the Spirit. Because there is one body and one Spirit. Not there needs to be or there should be–it’s there is! It’s already done!

There is one body and one Spirit, there is one hope and one Lord. There are many expressions of the faith, but just one faith. Guard it. Maintain it. Keep it. There are different expressions of baptism, but only one baptism. Not just one expression of Church–there are many expressions–but there is only one Church. And one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all!

That’s the reality. It’s the same blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that courses through our spiritual veins. It’s the same one Holy Spirit who lives inside all Christians. We’re all related to all Christians. It’s already a done deal.

Through the Spirit, we have been given by God an eternal unity that encompasses the Father with the Son, all disciples of Jesus with them both, and all Christians, in turn, with one another. It’s not anything we have to create. It’s what God has already given us. Unity with all Christians is a gift from God. The only question is whether or not you’re going to accept it.

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The Dallas Cowboys are the only professional sports team in the United States without a home win in 2024. Look it up. NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA–every single team has won a game at home except for Jerry’s Team. Look for that to continue tonight against C.J. Stroud, Joe Mixon, and the Houston Texans. The Cowboys have not scored a touchdown at AT&T Stadium in 57 days. During their current four game losing streak, Dallas has been outscored 138-60. I don’t think this will be an explosive blowout like the past five games in Arlington in which the Cowboy have given up at least 21-points before halftime and trailed by three scores. But the losing streak should continue. And whatever has been ailing the Texans in November should get fixed.

Peace,

Allan

Praying with New Partners

Three years into our ministry in Midland and I am still meeting ministers and pastors who are just as concerned as I am with joining Jesus in breaking down the denominational and racial walls that divide his people. My new friend Elvie Brown, the pastor at Common Unity Church, organized a prayer meeting for a bunch of us on Tuesday and I was honored to kneel in prayer beside so many passionate men and women, crying out to the Lord together for unity, fellowship, partnership, and common Christian love.

We prayed for each other’s ministries. We prayed for each other’s families. We prayed for each other’s churches. We asked our mighty God to tear down the walls that divide us: economic walls, geographic walls, racial walls, denominational walls, political walls, gender walls. We reminded one another and acknowledged to God in prayer that we are one in Christ Jesus today and forever. And when we live into that reality the whole world will know that he is Lord and we are his.

We spent nearly an hour-and-a-half in prayer together inside the gym at the Teen Flow Center in the south part of Midland. I was at the same table with Jon Wymore. I met and prayed with Ken Johnson, the longtime pastor at Goodwill Missionary Baptist. I thanked Elvie for the privilege of joining such a wonderful group of Christian leaders in our city.

And I thank God for so many in this city who care more about his everlasting Kingdom than they do their own churches or denominations.

I experienced some of that Acts 4 homothumadon Tuesday night. God was there. Listening. Speaking. Encouraging. Inspiring. Transforming. We were there together in his presence. Focused. Intense. Committed. Open. It was a humbling thing for me, something I didn’t know how badly I needed.

My community of Gospel partners is a little bigger today. Walls are coming down in Midland and in my own heart. And I thank God.

Peace,

Allan

We Are Going to Die

A meme was going around this week having a little fun at the weird juxtaposition of Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. It was a red and pink Valentine’s Day card covered in pretty hearts that said, “We are going to die.” Yes, we are. That’s what Ash Wednesday is all about, to remind us of our own mortality, our own fallen and broken nature, that we are going to die someday and we cannot truly live without the salvation of a righteous relationship with Christ Jesus. Ash Wednesday is not something we Church of Christers typically observe. But this year we began the traditional season of Lent with more than 900 of our brothers and sisters from our three partner churches, by hosting the 4Midland Ash Wednesday service at GCR.

And it was glorious.

We combined the worship teams and choirs from all four churches and sang nearly a dozen songs together. We confessed our sins and listened to our Lord’s words of forgiveness and assurance. We prayed. We sat in silence. And then we sang some more. Pastors and shepherds from all four churches applied ashes from ten stations down front. And I think we sang the whole time.

It was glorious.

We Baptists and CofCers have very little experience with Ash Wednesday–we’re still mostly just sticking our toes in the water at this point and feeling this thing out. Darin Wood opened the evening by holding up the order of service and announcing to the Baptists in the room, “This is a liturgy.” Even the Methodists and Presbyterians seemed a little uneasy receiving ashes in a CofC worship center with no stained glass or kneeling benches. Thank goodness for Steve Brooks who provided the ashes for our service–I wouldn’t even know where to begin! But there was love. So much love. The unity and love was thick in there last night. The smiles and the warmth. The hugs and hospitality. It was evident on every face and felt in every interaction. There was a sweet spirit in the room before, during, and after the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was honored to share the ash-imposing duties (ash imposer? ash applier? there’s got to be a better term for that, but if Steve Schorr doesn’t even know what to call it, maybe there’s not) with our GCR Youth Minister J.E. Bundy and our Children’s Minister Kristin Rampton. However, I realized about four minutes into the ashes part that I was standing too close to Kristin. One of the great joys of applying ashes–there are many!–is in the interactions I have with little kids. Last night I would notice small children in the line, our GCR children, and smile at the thought of blessing them with the ashes and the words of Scripture. But they were all going to Kristin!

 

 

 

 

 

I am thankful for Deeann Camp who came down the aisle to me with their two-week-old daughter Clara. Two-weeks-old! It was her first time in church since having the baby, the first time the baby had been to church, the first time I had seen her. How humbling it is, how provocative and eye-opening, to apply a tiny little cross to that itty-bitty brand-new forehead and look that infant baby in the eyes and tell her that someday she will return to the dust from which she is made. I’m guessing that was a powerful moment for Deeann. I hope it was. It was for me.

Methodist ashes, a Baptist-style choir, Church of Christ songs, and Presbyterian prayers.

And it was glorious.

I am so grateful to God to be at a church that sees all Christians as God’s children and our brothers and sisters in Christ and is actively breaking down the walls between denominations. I am so thankful to be the preacher at a church like this. I am grateful to the Lord for the wonderful team of ministers and elders at GCR who believe so much in the Gospel work of unity and labor so hard to pull it off. I am thankful for my friendships with Steve Schorr, Darin Wood, and Steve Brooks. I am thankful for the vision we share of a more united Body of Christ. We took this picture just to prove that not every single time we get together is for cheeseburgers.

God bless our four churches during this important season of Lent. God bless our brothers and sisters in Christ at First Methodist, First Baptist, and First Presbyterian. And may our worship and service partnership together be an undeniable witness to the power of Christ’s love to tear down every barrier between us and God and between us and one another.

Peace,

Allan

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