Strength & Honor

Unity in the church is VITALLY important. We’re given clear mandates and truths in scripture that are set in stone to unify around. The division, broken fellowship, and denominational divides over time have come from many things, but could be generalized into differences in doctrine and practice. Some have split away to more accurately follow scripture like in the Protestant reformation, and some split away to less accurately follow scripture like the emergent church movement - and all kinds of splits in between that have to do with people’s different interpretations of communion, speaking in tongues, baptism, worship, and even the gospel itself. Some split over secondary issues, and some from issues of first importance that end up not being Christianity at all.

At the poles of all the various degrees are the, “nobody is saved but us” camps, and at the other end there’s the, “anyone who even thinks positively about Jesus is good to go and doctrine doesn’t matter” camps. Both are wrong. It’s complicated and can get gross, but how it’s SUPPOSED to work is that because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we humbly unify together around God’s living and active Word. It serves to hold us all accountable as the sole authority on all life, faith, and practice.

Opinions and feelings are secondary as we grow in sanctification and submit to the Word. We read it, trust it, follow it, and when questions, disagreements, or matters of conscience come up, we work those things out in love and respect. If somebody actively, continually causes division with sin or opposing the teachings of scripture, a careful and gracious process is put in place where they can eventually be removed from the brotherhood as to not cause more harm to the bride of Christ. Unfortunately, at no fault of God or His Word, but because of that old human flaw of sin, misunderstandings, mischaracterizations of scripture, a severe lack of Biblical church discipline, and wolves in sheep’s clothing have led to all the divisions. The good news? The true church WILL prevail through it all, and there will indeed be perfect unity in eternity with Christ.

We’ve heard a lot about unity lately as a country. While our nation has a constitution that we can tether to for certain laws and principals, it doesn’t serve to unify in all aspects of life as scripture does for Christians. Where unity in the church is vital, unity as a nation and culture, I believe, is not the goal or the prize. Civility is. Respect for others in disagreement. Honor of differences. Not having to always attack, and not feeling like everything is an attack. Having the desire for unity and community, but with the understanding that it’s not always going to happen, and forcing it is not unity. China has unity. Russia has unity. Unity in a country that is maintained by force is not real unity.

In the “un-friend” and “block” culture we live in, respect for others in disagreement is a hot commodity these days. Our culture is wrought with assuming motives, taking words out of context, flipping the script, gotcha moments, victim mentalities, and all kinds of ungodly attributes that only serve to tear others down. As a believer, my desire is that literally everybody in the entire world would be a caring, loving, Jesus-centric Christian who loves God’s Word and others in the way scripture teaches. So, as I continually fail at that myself each day, I try to do my best to point people to that end knowing that not everybody will. It’s my job to be loving and to tell the truth, not for their will to be changed.

Instead of always looking for a fight and responding out of anger, we should initially believe the best in other people. Lead with the benefit of the doubt. It doesn’t mean agreeing. It doesn’t mean affirming things that are wrong. It doesn’t mean staying silent. Peace at all costs is not peace at all. Silence to avoid being criticized is not peace - it’s fear. Instead of staying silent to avoid trouble, we should offer our concerns and information in gentleness if we feel somebody is wrong. We should call out evil and be able to accurately defend our position, but respectfully. We ought to control ourselves and hear somebody else out when we’re told that we’re wrong, and respect them in our response.

Now, this is not a call for silence. If anything, this is a call for many to stop being silent. We SHOULD disagree. We should push on each other. We should speak our minds and share our concerns. The consensus isn’t always right, and silencing people who we don’t want to hear isn’t unity. If hatred and anger outweigh a decency, respect, and even genuine compassion for fellow image bearers, the fires of division and destruction will end up consuming us all.

Disagree with respect. Argue with honor. Debate with kindness and civility. Strength without hostility.

THAT is the unity our country needs.