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Unified by…What? October 20, 2008 By Josh Lewis “In essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.” -
commonly
attributed to Augustine Unity is hard
to find these days. The United Nations are rarely united about
anything. The political arena of our country is constantly
divided along party lines. The people themselves are divided
on almost every issue imaginable, from immigration policy to health
care solutions. Politicians often run on a platform of unity
(“I'm a uniter, not a divider”), only to become embroiled in more
bitter partisanship. The events of September 11, 2001, briefly
brought the nation together, but seven years later it is a source
of contention as politicians wrangle over what we should or should
not do to prevent acts of terror on our soil. We all want
unity; it sounds good. We just can't seem to find it. Of course, Christianity
is not immune to a spirit of divisiveness. First-century believers
contended among themselves, saying, “I am of Paul; and I of Apollos;
and I of Cephas; and I of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:12).
Christianity is the world's largest religion, but it is divided
into 38,000 denominations. Wikipedia
lists 10
different denominations under Oneness
Pentecostalism, and that list is not all-inclusive. Within
the largest Oneness organization, the United Pentecostal Church,
we have seen fractures in the last year over the TV
issue, resulting in the formation
of a new denomination/fellowship, the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship.
Unity is definitely in short supply these days. The Bible often
praises unity and holds it up as a desirable goal. David sang,
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). Before the Holy Spirit
fell on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were all in one accord.
Paul says we are to “keep the unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians
4:3) and strive for “the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:13).
There were evidently disagreements in the early church, or Paul
would not have spent time talking to the Romans about disputable
matters. The different beliefs of the Gentile Christians caused
such consternation among the Jewish believers that the church leadership
called a council to discuss the matter in Acts 15. The creation
of the United Pentecostal Church in 1945 was possible because two
groups agreed to disagree, not about trivial matters, but over the
actual point of salvation and the role of baptism and the Holy Spirit.
In other words, they faced the same question we face today:
around what do we unite? Unity is obviously
something desirable for believers, but at what cost? On one
hand, we cannot ignore biblical truths in order to achieve an ecumenical
unification with everyone who claims the title “Christian,” but
neither can we only fellowship and unite with those whose every
belief lines up exactly with ours, as that results in mass splintering
and a weakening of the body of Christ at a time when the world desperately
needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. Should we unify
with all those who call Jesus Lord? Should we work together
with all those who are Spirit-filled? Should we join with
only those who deny the doctrine of the Trinity and agree with the
Oneness view of the Godhead? Should we fellowship only with
believers whose views on holiness agree with ours? Should
we exclude those from the emergent church movement who reject the
traditional church structure? It's easy to agree that unity
is desirable, but with whom will we seek unity? I believe there
are three principles found in Scripture that should guide us in
our quest for unity. 1. All Non-Pentecostals
are Not the Enemy John said
to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons,
but we told him to stop because he wasn't in our group.” “Don't
stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name
will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against
us is for us. If anyone gives you even a cup of water because
you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will
surely be rewarded (Mark 9:38-41, NLT). Don't attack
those who are doing their best to work for Jesus. They may
not be in your group, but that does not mean they are all wrong.
Your time is probably better spent telling others about Jesus than
trying to get them to join
your group. Remember that those
who work for Christ or contribute to His kingdom will be rewarded.
You are not
required to compromise the message of the death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus. As the opportunity arises, you can challenge them
to go further in their relationship with Christ using Paul's approach
in Acts 19 as an example. You must also be open to allow them
to challenge you, as they may have strengths that you could benefit
from. Don't demean their contributions, even if it doesn't measure
up to your standards or understanding of the Bible. 2. Everything
is Not Black or White Accept him
whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.
One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose
faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything
must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not
eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted
him. 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 (Romans 14:1-4, NIV). Somewhere along
the way, too many people have decided that it's “vegetables or hell.”
Their grandmother quit eating meat when she became a Christian,
their daddy told them to eat vegetables only, their pastor expounded
upon the benefits of a vegetarian diet, and the youth camp evangelist
told them horror stories about what happened to other young people
who ate meat. Therefore, anyone who consumes bloody, dead
flesh is obviously not a true Christian. All facetiousness
aside, the truth is that there are gray areas in how we live out
our faith. The Jew-Gentile controversy in Acts 15 demonstrates
that this was the case in the early church, and Paul also made this
clear throughout the 14th chapter of Romans. Some
people don't like ambiguity; they want everything to be right or
wrong. This is not the case. Whether you believe shirt
sleeves should go down to the wrist, may just touch the elbows,
or can be non-existent is not a litmus test for a person's spirituality
in and of itself. 3. Unity is Worth Striving For I therefore,
the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a
life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called
[with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God's service,
Living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility)
and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience,
bearing with one another and making allowances because you love
one another. Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the
harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding
power of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3, Amplified). Unity does not
come easily. We have various convictions that require sacrifice
or inconvenience. When we see others who don't have those
same beliefs, we have to make allowances for them without compromise.
When the love of God is not filling our hearts, it is difficult
to make those allowances for others whose faith allows them liberties
that our faith does not. Too often, we revert to the “if I
can't do it, then they shouldn't be able to either” attitude of
our childhood. The Best Result We must recognize
the value of unity. Achieving and maintaining oneness and
harmony with our brothers and sisters in Christ will require us
to “strive eagerly.” Jesus told us that the world would recognize
us as His disciples when we “love one another” (John 13:35).
Constant bickering
and backstabbing does not make the church appealing. Anyone
can watch any reality TV show and get that. When outsiders
see a unified body of Christ displaying love, making allowances
for one another, and living out a real faith with peace among themselves,
they want to know more. We must be unified by love. Josh Lewis is a mild-mannered cubicle dweller by day, a grouchy Similac-dispensing fiend by night. He attends Abundant Life Church in Plano, Texas, where he finds unity through the Word and softball.
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