20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23 TNIV)
I thought we had agreed to get rid of all the difficult stuff . . . no, oh well.
Looking at the fragmented, frustrating, mess of Christian denominations it is difficult to see any unity. Looking at the infighting and bickering in the Restoration movement is is nearly impossible to glimpse Christian love. So what happened to Jesus' prayer?
Last weekend I attended the Converge conference in Bellevue, and learned about the Alpha course. In short, Alpha is an introduction to the basics of the Christian faith. I think you should look into it, it has some really great things to offer, but that's not the point of this post.
Alpha was developed by the Anglican church in London, it has been experienced by 11 million people around the world. I saw Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Church of Christ-ians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, etc. all in one room working toward one end worshiping as one body. I heard a Lutheran pastor emphasize to the group that in the New Testament adult baptism was the primary way which people expressed their conversion to faith. I saw an Anglican pastor talk about the powerful work of the Holy Spirit transforming people's lives. I saw a Baptist emphasize the need for free will in the relationship between humanity and God.
If you don't know, pretty much all of those things are way out of character for those denominations.
Last weekend I saw the answer to Jesus' prayer. I saw Christians from around the world and from across the denominational spectrum unite around the issue of sharing the good news of the kingdom. I wish it weren't so amazing - I wish it were common.
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14 comments:
James, this post is just what I needed to hear today.
Thanks for the post. It lifted my spirits. I find myself disillusioned, often, with the church. But sometimes i need reminder of what its all about. Thanks for sharing!
That is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Mr. Wood,
With all due respect, where are you going with this train of thought?
In your opinion, is it ok to embrace false doctrine for the sake of unity? Am I reading too much into your article? Did the error of the belief of these other people bother you? Did it hurt your heart that they were so devoted yet were in error? You have the ability to look into God’s word and see where they are missing it? I don’t mean in “defense of the gospel” truth is truth whether you believe it or not. But for their sake, would you have said something, if you had been convicted to do so? Jesus did not leave the light to join those in darkness. He shined the light into the darkness. Mr. Wood, if you were the only “Church of Christian” there, did it occur to you that you might have been the only one there that was truly in the light? Did it occur to you that God allowed you to attend not to see how you could blend with the apostate churches but so you could stand for the church that was established on the day of Pentecost? Mr. Wood, if you know truth and light reach into those pits of darkness wearing denominational names and pull those good hearts out of there. Jesus would have loved every one of those people but he wouldn’t have given them a pass on embracing false doctrine over the truth.
Matt 7:21-23
1 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
NIV
Matt 10:34-39
4 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
"'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-
36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
John 14:23-24
3 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
NIV
2 Thess 1:7-10
8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
NIV
1 Peter 4:17-18
17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
NIV
1 John 2:3-6
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
NIV
Thanks for the encouraging words.
ccasper: where am I going with this? Hopefully toward an answer to Jesus' prayer that his followers would all be one. How do we get there? I'm not completely sure, but I desperately want to. I want the words of Jesus to be life and breath and hope for his people.
I in no way advocate "embracing false doctrine" for any reason. That would be moving backward in the attempt to learn to obey everything that Jesus has commanded.
I am bothered when I see other people missing the point of scripture. I wonder if they are bothered when they see me missing the point of scripture. I am sure that I do not have the entirety of scripture figured out at my ripe old age of 30. I hope and pray that my salvation is not contingent on me completely understanding scripture.
My joy was to see the way that people of all denominations were coming back to the teaching of the bible rather than advocating the prescribed doctrines of their governing bodies. Official Lutheran doctrine teaches infant baptism (just like Alexander Campbell did in his early years), but they are reading in the bible where the New Testament describes adult baptism as the way people come to faith (just like A.C. did later in his life). Baptists tend to emphasize a Calvinistic view of predestination over and against free will (just like Barton W. Stone did in his early ministry), but they are seeing God's gift of free will to humanity (like B.W.S. did when he broke with the Presbyterian church).
How great is it to be able to see the same processes going on today as happened 200 years ago? How amazing would it be to see a new restoration movement where people from all denominations go back to the text of scripture to find out what God desires? Maybe, just maybe, Jesus' prayer for the unity of Christians will be answered . . . I hope.
Mr Wood,
Most definately do I agree with you on your statement on the concept of many coming out of doctrines to the scripture. I would pray for that. A group of honest hearts searching scriptures will always be blessed by finding the truth. My family history in the church started with our patriarch as a Baptist preacher for seven years that began to see the doctrine he believed was not in line with the scriptures. So the story goes that he studied his way out of it and began to look for the church he saw in the passages of his bible. I too welcome anyone who would be willing to put aside "think so's and traditions" for pure truth in an effort to reflect Jesus. I aplaud you for that.
Mr. Wood,
I believe this too, that you were there for a greater reason than we may know. I believe you belong to the true church. You guessed it. I'm a church of Christ hard liner. I don't believe things that go on in the church happen by accident. I also believe the church is getting ready to go through a transition. So, here's a question, if there is another restoration afoot, could this gathering have been the beginning of it? What has been the fruit of it? Now that I understand more of the purpose I'm very interested in the expectations as well as the results.
As far as knowing how to get there. You are sure. It's between pages of the living breathing word.
Keep going! It's not far!
My two cents. Unity is impossible without the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:11-22 seems applicable here. Christ unites us. The participation in His Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection is what unites us. I don't believe that we will ever be united by trying to be like the churches in the New Testament nor in all matters of doctrine. The churches in Ephesus, Galatia, and Corinth were not one in all of their practices and beliefs. Paul urged them to be one in Christ Jesus. If we are striving to be "restored," shouldn't it be into the likeness of Christ? We are the Body of Christ, a living, breathing organism, a community of folks who have chosen to believe and obey Christ. Does the coc have some special insight into being the likeness of Christ? If so, I don't see it. Aren't we all united in our belief in Christ and our struggle to follow and obey Him? Are we not also united in His grace, which covers all of us in our ignorance and failure?
I feel terribly ignorant in this conversation so bare with my unschooled thoughts...
However true it is that we are united in Christ, saved by grace and living under mercy, there are those that believe that you don't have to be IN Christ to be a Christian, or that once you say you accept Jesus into your heart that you can't be separated from Him.
Now, I don't know enough about any denomination to intelligently site specific doctrines, nor have I visited other denominational churches... but I know there are churches out there that are not following biblical principles... from what I hear.
Cheryl, I think those are the denominations that my mom (ccasper) is speaking against. ~ Also knowing the extraordinarily legalistic situation that you find yourself in, I understand your question about the coc having "special insight on the likeness of Jesus". It is so hard to see Jesus in a group of people who find it difficult to simply be together without being in conflict. In the past situations like that have certainly caused me to have questions myself.
But I think in the grand scheme of things churches of Christ in general have a pretty good idea about the things that are doctrinally important. - And in a nation that drives all-inclusive-ness, that feels mean to say... but it is what I think none the less.
I love the picture of unity seen in our conversation here!
For me one of the most important points comes from Ephesians 4:1-6 "1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
Humility, gentleness, and patience with one another are the things we need to practice to maintain unity.
The unity comes from the Spirit; it is not ours to create on our terms, but a gift which we can maintain.
The unity is founded on us having the same body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, and Father (defining all of that out would take lots more space than a comment).
This is the life to which we were called!
Mmmm...ccasper...is.....your mom....gulp. ;) Nice to meet you Mrs. Leah's mom. I feel like Eddie Haskell!
I understand where you are coming from, but here's what I want to ask, can we make assumptions based on what we hear about other churches? Also, is it fair to assume something about an entire group of people because they go to a church that is Lutheran or Baptist? Isn't it possible that there are disciples of Christ in these churches? Is it possible that Churches of Christ can learn something about discipleship from other churches? My experience with other churches causes me to say yes. It was going to visit a non-coc that changed our lives forever.
Finally, I can agree that many Churches of Christ have a good idea on some aspects of doctrine, I just think that other churches do to. But, I guess the real question is what things are important and that is why we have so many different churches in the first place.
I am going to throw my overschooled overthought pompous opinion in here. ;)
Fundamentally I think what is the most important is deciding what is the most important. Jesus did not view all scriptures in equality. When he was asked in Matthew 22:35-37 which commandment was 'most important', his answer was not 'they are all important!'
When we discuss unity, we have to start by deciding what are immovable stances. What things are at the center of our salvation? If any doctrinal issue is not in the center of that bullseye, then we can all disagree and still be unified.
Fundamentally, the Baptists don't have everything right. Neither do the Presbyterians. Neither do ...wait for it... the Restorationists. We can't have everything right. We are imperfect people with an imperfect understanding of the character of God.
But we serve a perfect Savior. And that is where our discussion must begin. With the gospel.
My favorite sermon of all time is Ravi Zacharias in the LDS Tabernacle. His sermon starts around minute 51 or so. He is the second non LDS to ever speak in the tabernacle. He has plenty of opportunity to rail against the doctrinal shortcomings of the LDS church. Instead he speaks of our God and Savior Jesus.
Hi Cheryl,
I am glad to see some more conversation on this after the weekend. I was a little nervous after the last response to James on his explanation of the conference he attended in Bellevue. No offence taken, my sweet girl. And you are much prettier and smarter than Eddie Haskell.
James,
Ditto on your comment!
Cheryl,
It sounds like there are those you come in contact with that you should be able to expect better of that are just plain sinful. I'm sorry for that. JESUE NEVER CHANGES. There were times in my life when that fact was the only thing that brought me through. When that happens don't look to the left or to the right. Just straight ahead. Keep your eye on Him.
We have so many churches because just like anything else, man wants to do things his way and not God's way. Some of those other chruches wear another man's name because they follow that man's doctrine. Churche's of Christ are not perfect, they never will be. Anytime you have imperfect men involved in anything it will be imperfect. Just look at even how the disciples were around Jesus. The mother of James and John asked if they could sit on the right and left of Jesus in Heaven. But in the coc in it's purest form, you have the doctrine out of scripture and scripture only, you have very simple worship that can be done anywhere in the world, you are the priest so no man stands between you and your Father. And believe it or not, when you have godly men and women joined together as the body of Christ, you have unity as God meant it to be. God does not exclude anyone but they must be included on His terms and those terms are spelled out in the scriptures. If the church does not teach or follow God's terms, that church whether it's coc or some other name, it is not be right before God.
Unity is not a characteristic to be attained by a group of people. It is not the end game or the product of everyone deciding to be or believe a certain way. Unity is born when people are brought together by something like prayer for a sick child, mourning over the loss of a friend, joyous celebration at a wedding or conversation about scripture...
I am happy to be unified with you in this conversation, because I know we are all seeking God's will for our lives and His church.
Lord thank you for a piece of technology that allows us to be connected though we live states away from each other. Please forgive us when we miss the point and get stuck in our own imperfect thoughts... I know I do that so often... Lord lead us as we seek you. Light the way so that we can see where you want us to go... how to understand your good and perfect will... because we don't want to stumble... or cause anyone else to stumble. Jesus, reveal to us the unity that you prayed for... when you prayed for us.
We are yours,
Amen
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