For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:11
Sometimes I begin to wonder if the Body of Christ can ever be united, the rest of the time I think it never will be until Jesus returns.
Do you ever think about that? Do you ever ask God for insight on this question?
I do.
All through the road trip we finished up yesterday, I was thinking about this. To be honest, I set out on the trip in one of my more optimistic frames of mind. .. Yes, why not?
The truth is that God casts with a very wide net. He casts it into the seas of humanity, that roaring, raging sea of churning and sometimes boiling waters, waters that we are seemingly tossed in, to and fro. He casts his nets across cultures, nations, creeds, backgrounds, philosophies and traditions, and in a larger sense, across time as well. Maybe it really isn’t His intention that the church be united in name or tradition or in doctrine… maybe we, or at least I, have gotten that part all wrong all these years.
Yes, what if many of our differences are part of God’s plan of redemption? Does that sound crazy to you? Well, I’m not so sure myself, maybe it is crazy. Let’s say I’m thinking out loud in this post…
Take a town, any town. Say on one side of town there is a local congregation of believers, worshipping God, singing His praise, taking the good news to the community and bringing in a “catch” that comes to follow Him and grow in his service, let’s call this a good church that does the “right things” and let’s also say that it is in an affluent part of town. They have a nice building, and a more or less traditional approach to things, with just enough ‘contemporary’ to make it “fresh” so to speak.
Now let’s say that there is another church on the other side of town. Let’s say that they are very informal there, and that they have taken informality to the place where they worship in a room that has all of its seating around tables, with a coffee bar on one side; they are very modern in all of their styles of worship, music and everything else, and the people don’t even dress up on Sundays. This church teaches pretty much the same things that the first church does, but here they are really focused on helping the poor in the community. I don’t mean by simply addressing their physical needs, but their emotional and spiritual needs as well. Their largest ministry is a recovery ministry that is focused on helping people recover from addictions, so that they might grow to be disciples of the Lord. Both of these churches have about a thousand members who dearly love Jesus Christ.
But they aren’t crazy about each other. The first church of more affluent people looks down on the other church because they are way too casual; they seem to have no respect. The second church looks down on the first church because they are too stuck up. That may be unfortunate, but how is the Kingdom doing otherwise?
God has cast His net all across that town, and the catch has been a big one for His Kingdom! Maybe that was His idea all along…
So how can there be unity in that town?
There will be unity when we learn to love one another, and not worry about the small stuff, don’t you think?
Well, it’s just a crazy thought… I’d love to hear your thoughts…
Life Project Blog 
I used to think that being one meant having to be under some overarching trans-denominational label. The more I read church history, and study the New Testament, I don’t believe that. It seems there will always be local differences and preferences. The Kingdom seems to be a pretty diverse place, where we will retain our uniqueness, but it will be manifested in a united citizenship of that Kingdom under Jesus. Yes, love seems to be what makes us one. We will be known to be the followers of Jesus because of our love. Not because we worship at the same type of church that all has the same names and labels, but because we are living out self-sacrificing, cruciform love.
Yes, I agree. We’ll either be known as the followers of Jesus because of our love, or… followers of Jesus will be known for their divisiveness. I’m thinking that each of us needs to consider making a choice!
When stuff is turned upside down uncommonsense drops out – and is a lot easier to see.
And I am holding back a dam of racing chasing stuff right now. Your words prompting a great deluge. Commonality rather than uniformity. Togetherness rather than betterness. Shrewd rather than crude. Love rather than shove. That kind of thing. I am off. Thank you.
Thanks Paul, nice phrasing, by the way…
I have thought about this and even blogged about it last summer (Bird Party). God “speaks” to each of us in a voice we understand…so there may be some people who find a level of comfort and definition in a more formal service, others are more comfortable in a laid back approach. As you noted in this example, both churches are solid in their Bible teaching. As a person who was raised in a Protestant background, now married into a family of Catholics I have learned that there is beauty in the differences between the worship styles. What I think is paramount is that we all agree on the truth of scripture and the object and purpose of our worship, which is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As the body of Christ it is important that we don’t “major” in the “minors” and allow God’s Kingdom to be fractured because of style differences. We all are doing great damage to the Kingdom of God when we act like our denominations “own” the right to be right regarding worship styles or the like. Being a follower of Jesus Christ isn’t like being on a team or a membership in a country club, it is becoming part of a family…whereas blood….Jesus’ blood…is thicker than water. Just sayin’….would love your feedback on my thoughts,,,,thanks for a thought-provoking blog. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I appreciate it! Since you asked, I agree with your views. It seems to me that the test of all this comes when we see something in another congregation or group that gives us pause. For example, I too have a Protestant background, and there are things about Catholic teachings in certain areas that I’m not comfortable with. The question for one like me will be this: Am I mature enough to embrace my Catholic friends as brothers in Christ and recognize the fact that they are growing in their relationships with Him as I am, or will I feel the need to tell them they are wrong all the time and destroy our relationship? Enter love: Hmmm… since we are called upon to love one another, maybe I should decide that it’s a good time for ME to grow up and be more mature, and let God reveal His truth to those who seek His presence; me included.
Anyway, that’s how I see it…
The body of Christ is still building and sharing love but the differences are a large part of it. The body is made up of many parts, the head, arms, legs, we cannot all be part of the same part. We then have many churches each reflecting their special gifts. Let God be the judge and praised for whatever mankind does. He knows our hearts from the start and will bring us to His will every time. God love will cover and protect us from division, he will bring us together as we love Him, read, learn and teach others every day.
Yes, and so we pray that He will!
There are certainly many flavors of Christianity, many of which are based on differences in language and culture, but even here in America there are different brands as you have pointed out. But unity. I have only experienced that when we had the big Promise Keeper rally in DC years ago, when we had close to a million men on the mall. That was unity and a glimpse of heaven. “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17). Unity when we receive God’s glory through Christ – unity so that the world will know Christ.
quite so!
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This is one of the great powers that technology holds. I read your blog not interested in what denomination you belong to but I read to see if what you are saying is biblical and sound in doctrine. When I find a blog that meets those requirements I follow it and enjoy the blessings that reading it provides.
The sad fact though is that we lack this sense of community in our localities. I have never visited many of the churches in my area because of what tradition has taught me about their beliefs. Are those traditional teachings true? Probably not from what I have come to understand. Yet if we lived in the same city would we ever fellowship together? Unfortunately the answer to that is more than likely not.
It is disturbing to me that we lose sight of the message of salvation and the cross and let minor theological differences destroy our ability to fellowship together. Perhaps if we came together more often in fellowship and prayer, all of the extra-biblical traditions would be pushed out and a united biblical faith could be expressed. Unfortunately I see the only hope for that is in Christ’s return, however with God all things are possible.
Yep, I know what your mean. Human nature gets in the way sooner or later, and one thing leads to another… Neither you nor I can change the world, but we can change ourselves bit by bit with God’s help. We can focus on our relationships with Him, and we can learn the habit of seeking His presence by talking to Him continually, as the Bible tells us to do, and we can love our brother as Jesus has instructed by deciding to put others first. It’s a process, I think, and we’re all works in progress, that’s true. But think about it. You and I have not met, I don’t know where you or anything like that. We come from different traditions, but look, we’re talking about these things, thinking about these things, praying about these things… We can also influence other Christians around us, maybe not every one, but enough to make a change, enough to make a difference, even a little one. Then God steps in, with more people willing to actually follow, and amazing things happen… who knows? Like you said, with God, all things are possible.
Amen!
I think much like the middle east situation: it will only resolve when Christ comes in His glory, such is the situation with the body of Christ:))
You are probably right, sadly
:))