Doing the work of division
As I mentioned in a previous post (“Unity: The Series“), this week I’m writing a series on the topic of unity among the body of Christ. I suggested that we are united in Christ, but we are not generally living in that unity (“We ARE united, but we are NOT united“). Yesterday, I wrote that humility is the work of unity (“Doing the work of unity“). Now, remember, I am talking about unity among those who are in Christ, who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are children of God. This is the beginning point of my series. Throughout the series, you can assume that these are the people that I am talking about.
So, if humility is the work of unity, then what is the work of division? In other words, what results in failure to maintain the unity of the Spirit (as Paul exhorted his readers in Ephesians 4:2)?
Well, before I jump into that question – with what will be an obvious answer – I want to point out how important this issue is to the body of Christ. Yes, there are many, many examples in Scripture of exhortations toward unity. And, there are many exhortations against divisiveness and divisive people. Here is one example:
As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. (Titus 3:10-11 ESV)
In the verse before that warning, Paul even gives some examples of these people who “stir up division”:
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. (Titus 3:9 ESV)
What makes these issues foolish and divisive? Because the people involved are putting themselves, their interests, their understandings above the health, benefit, and edification of their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Today, few people argue and divide about genealogies. But what about certain types of teachings (baptism, spiritual gifts, gender roles, the church, leadership, end times) or experiences (speaking in tongues, baptism again, etc.)? If we separate from brothers and sisters in Christ over arguments related to these and other issues, then we are not living in the humility, peace, and love of Jesus Christ. Instead, we are doing the work of division.
Often, the divisions are subtle and accepted (even praised), such as dividing over meeting locations, leaders, denominations, or organizational issues. If two believers live side by side and yet never relate with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ because they belong to different “local churches,” then one or more of them are doing the work of division.
If we look at the way followers of Jesus Christ live today, it is clear that we are generally more involved in the work of division than in the work of unity. So, how do we move toward the work of unity and leave the work of division behind?
———————————
Series on Unity
Doing the work of unity
As I mentioned in a previous post (“Unity: The Series“), this week I’m writing a series on the topic of unity among the body of Christ. Yesterday, I suggested that we are united in Christ, but we are not generally living in that unity (“We ARE united, but we are NOT united“). Now, remember, I am talking about unity among those who are in Christ, who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are children of God. This is the beginning point of my series. Throughout the series, you can assume that these are the people that I am talking about.
In that last post, I said that the reason we are not living in the unity that we actually have in Jesus Christ is that we fail to do the work of unity. I pointed to the following passage penned by Paul to the church in Ephesus:
I [Paul] therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body… (Ephesians 4:1-3a ESV)
In that passage, Paul says that “walking in a manner worthy of our calling” in Jesus Christ is reflected in the way that we interact with people who disagree with us, that is, by responding to them in humility, gentleness, patience, love, being eager (or making every effort) to maintain the unity that we already have in the Spirit.
There is a similar passage in another letter that Paul wrote, this one to the believes in Phillipi. There is a focus on unity and fellowship throughout that letter, but especially at the beginning of chapter 2:
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4 ESV)
Again, the work of unity is found in seeking love instead of seeking to fulfill one’s own desires. It’s found in considering others more important and looking out for their interests. Or, in a word that we find in both passages, the work of unity is found in humility.
Notice that Paul says this work of unity flows out of our encouragement in Christ, our fellowship in the Spirit, and our love for one another. This is not something that we attempt to drum up on our own. We can’t. But, since we are in Christ, everything needed to carry out this work of unity is already present.
Finally, just after this passage, in Philippians 2:5-11, Paul again points his readers back to Christ as the ultimate example in this kind of humility – an example of putting others first, of refusing to hold on to what was rightfully his so that we could serve others.
So, humility is the work of unity. Then, what is the work of divisiveness?
———————————
Series on Unity
We ARE united, but we are NOT united
As I mentioned in my introduction post yesterday (“Unity: The Series“), this week I’m writing a series on the topic of unity among the body of Christ. Now, remember, I am talking about unity among those who are in Christ, who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are children of God. This is the beginning point of my series. Throughout the series, you can assume that these are the people that I am talking about.
(Note: Do not misunderstand my statement above. I am not under the misconception that everyone who claims Christ is actually in Christ. However, from reading Scripture, I think we begin by assuming that anyone who claims Christ is actually in Christ, and it is only in very extreme situations that we come to the conclusion that someone who claims to be in Christ is not actually in Christ. This is a point that requires even more in depth study, but it is not the point of this series.)
To begin with, we ARE united. There is only one body of Christ. We cannot choose who is in Christ and who is not in Christ – we do not have that authority. If someone is in Christ, then we ARE united with that person and in the Holy Spirit we DO have fellowship with that person. Period.
It would be easy to quote passage after passage of Scripture to prove this point. But, it’s really not necessary. Just pick a book of the New Testament and begin reading. Soon, you will come to a statement about our unity in Jesus Christ.
I believe that this must be our starting point when we think about unity. We ARE united.
But, when it comes to how we live our lives day in and day out, in general the body of Christ is not living as if we are united. In other words, we are not living in the reality of our unity and fellowship that we already have in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. We are living a lie.
And, for the most part, we have accepted the lie as normal and healthy. Even when Christians today work toward unity, they tend to work to unify certain subsections of the body of Christ. While these efforts may bring that particular subsection together, the efforts also often further separate that subsection from other parts of the body of Christ. Thus, often efforts that are intended to maintain unity actual produce or intensify division.
Unity is given to us by God in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, but we are to work (yes, work) to maintain that unity.
Notice Paul’s focus on our efforts toward maintaining that unity that we already have in Jesus Christ:
I [Paul] therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body… (Ephesians 4:1-3a ESV)
According to Paul, part of living in Christ (“walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called”) includes the way that we respond to and interact with other people – especially people with whom we disagree: humility, gentleness, patience, love. Through this “work,” we maintain and live in the unity that God has already created.
I think its clear that in general we are not maintaining this unity.
So, we ARE united in Christ, but we are NOT living in that unity.
———————————
Series on Unity
Unity: The Series
I’ve written several posts on the topic of “unity.” In fact, there are 138 posts on this blog with the category “unity.” And, one of those posts, “When Disagreements Lead to Disunity,” is one of the most read posts over the last six years of blogging.
However, I have never written a series on the topic of “unity.” I’ve written some two-part posts on “unity,” but never an entire series.
So, this week, I’m going to write a week long series on the topic of unity – specifically, real, relational unity among those who are in Christ, that is, unity among those who are God’s children.
As I begin this series, I want to ask a few questions. And, with these questions, I would like us to start with positive aspects concerning unity about the body of Christ. I hope you will consider answering one or all of them.
1. What is the best example of unity among the body of Christ that you have ever experienced? What made this experience memorable?
2. Is there someone in your life who is very different from you and yet with whom you share a special bond of unity and fellowship? How do you maintain that unity in spite of your differences?
3. Have you ever been in a situation where someone handled a disagreement in a way that maintained or fostered unity instead of damaging unity? What did that person do?
4. Do you have any other positive experiences with unity among the body of Christ that you would like to share?
Again, please keep your responses positive on this post. We’ll have time to examine other aspects of our experiences with unity (or a lack of unity) in later posts.
———————————
Series on Unity
We are part of the body of Christ with them
Jim at “Crossroad Junction” has written a very important post called “‘Us’ and ‘Them’.”
In his post, Jim points out that there is only one body of Christ. When we take an attitude of “us” vs. “them,” we are separating those whom God has brought together into one body. (By the way, this is what the authors of Scripture call “divisiveness” or “heresy.”)
Here’s a short excerpt from Jim’s post:
We can disagree, and even debate our differences, so long as you are seeking (like me) – even if imperfectly (like me) – to faithfully reflect Christ in us, among us and through us. What becomes a show stopper is when you insist that God expects me to look or act or think just like you – whether you are middle-class suburban, ‘hood, street, generation x, generation y, postmodern, or whatever.
The real Body of Christ is only “us” – you and me. We are to be co-participants in the life of Christ in us, among us and through us. We are to submit our lives one to another – as diverse and individual parts of the inclusive, wonderful, multifaceted Body of Christ.
Do we disagree? Sure. But we do not divide. Do we have differences? Yes. But we do not separate. We continue to live in fellowship (real, relational fellowship) with the brothers and sisters in Christ who God has brought into our lives. All of them – not just those we agree with or who are like us.
Replay: Unity is a first tier doctrine
Two years ago, I wrote a post called “Unity a ‘first tier’ doctrine?” I wrote this post in response to the phenomenon of dividing “doctrines” into different levels (or “tiers”). Then, it is suggested that it is acceptable to separate from people who we accept as Christians but who disagree with us on other “doctrines.”
The problem with this practice is that, according to Scripture, unity is paramount. In fact, the authors of Scripture constantly and consistently exhort us toward unity and away from divisiveness.
Here is the post:
———————————————-
Unity is a “first tier” Doctrine
You’ve probably heard the concept of the multilevel (or tiers) of doctrines. Generally, depending upon who is talking or writing about this, there are two or three tiers of doctrines. The first tier typically separates believers (Christians) from nonbelievers (non-Christians). The second and/or third tiers then separate believers from one another, usually determining whether or not the person talking/speaking feels it necessary to relate to someone who differs from him/her.
In other words, two people who both agree on the ‘first tier’ of doctrines would consider each other believers, but they would not find it necessary to fellowship, serve, meet, whatever together if they disagreed on second and/or third tier doctrines.
I think there is a huge problem with this multi-tier view of Christianity. The problem is that unity is a ‘first tier’ doctrine. What do I mean? Look at this passage from Titus:
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. (Titus 3:9-11 ESV)
According to Paul, a person who divides from brothers and sisters should be warned twice. If the person still remains divisive, then the church should separate from him. In other words, “divisiveness” is a reason supposing that someone is NOT a brother or sister in Christ.
In Scripture, there are very, very few reasons given for one believer to separate from another believer. This separation is the same as refusing to recognize someone as a brother or sister in Christ. Thus, “divisiveness” is a first-tier doctrine that is placed on the same level as teaching a false gospel, practicing gross immorality, and refusing to work to support yourself and others (yes, this is a ‘first tier’ doctrine also).
What does this mean? It means that just as it is impossible for someone to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ and be indwelled by the Holy Spirit and continue in gross, unrepentant immorality, it is also impossible for a believer to divide himself or herself from brother or sisters based on disagreements (i.e., in Titus, Paul describes these as “controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels”… we have plenty of those, don’t we?).
The various ‘tiers’ only provide us reasons and justifications for dividing from others who we still consider to be Christians. Thus, they allow us to verbally acknowledge someone as a child of God without accepting them as a brother or sister in Christ. This is a concept that is completely antithetical to the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is, then, in fact, only one ‘tier’… if you want to call it that. Either someone is or is not a brother or sister in Christ. If someone is a brother or sister in Christ, then we MUST treat that person as a brother or sister in Christ, regardless of disagreements. Otherwise, WE are the ones being divisive, and the church should seek to divide themselves from us.
Increasing maturity in Christ is demonstrated by increasing unity with his followers
Last week, I published a guest post by Greg Gamble called “Identifying with the Shunammite.” Now, I want to highlight something else that Greg wrote.
This time, Greg left a comment on my post “Scripture… As We Live It #202” which was a re-mix of Titus 3:10-11 – a passage about divisive people. But, I want his comment to get more notice, so I’m publishing it here as a “Comment Highlight.”
Here is Greg’s comment:
One would think that Paul might have explained in more detail exactly how to get past the trap of taking sides in a serious matter. But one would be mistaken to look for an answer to a question that is not in God’s heart, and therefore not explicitly spelled out in scripture.
All of history is a record of Adams children being tested to see if they will choose to be right, or to walk in truth, as it is in Jesus. Eph 4:21. The temptation to be right has lured many, many brethren who started off walking with Jesus to feel it necessary to forsake humility and long suffering, prayer and patience in order to defend truth.
It’s instructive that Jesus didn’t expose Judas for 3 yrs, though he, and likely the disciples knew he was a thief and liar. Our appetite for 12 step programs and prescriptions of how to live in the Spirit is not borne of God. We have perfected the art of routing the Judas’s from out midst, resulting in a church at war, and the greatest impediment to tired sinners bowing before the Prince of Peace.
Paul prefaced Eph 4 with precisely how to prevent division or respond to divisive ones: “all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
It is messy, uncertain, risky and dangerous to weak brothers to witness a church going thru this kind of conflict. But it is necessary.
It’s the one universal way that we learn that we all are capable of division, even heresy, if we don’t choose to be Christlike rather than to be right, or as we have disingenuously called ‘love the truth.’
The tension between family members that quarrel is where they stand or fall. Its always right to stand for the truth, but its not always right to stand with a brother that stands for the truth. Sometimes, people who are right in truth are wrong in attitude, forgetting that truth is not always being right.
There is way to heal divisions that have already occurred, like the schism we find ourselves in after two millenniums of drinking the Kool Aid of being right.
We must endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
If we are indeed going to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, we all going to have to relearn how to walk in ALL lowliness and meekness (no fleshly anger) with long suffering, forbearing one another in love. If there is a prescription, that’s it.
If a church, a family or even a political party would make that their SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) even for selfish reasons, they would soon be widely known as leaders, mentors and an example to follow.
Error, untruthfulness, lies, carnality et al become increasingly difficult to practice in an atmosphere of humility, meekness,long suffering and gentle but firm patience with each others weaknesses.
Division, arguing over doctrines, who is right, church models etc is a devilish, foreign vaccination that Satan has injected Gods people with. Satan tricked Eve into wanting to know Good and Evil like God, and all of her children have faced the same test ever since.
Like our first parents, we will choose knowledge when we don’t hunger for the tree of Life. Tolerating division among God’s family is like getting vaccinated.
Doctors have convinced us that the way to not get sick with a disease from your neighbor is to put a little bit of that disease into your blood, in order to kickstart and speed up your own immune system to fight it when you contact it.
And we thought blood letting in the middle ages was voodoo science!
This assumes your immune system is not good enough, and it may not be, and therein is the hook. Rather than strengthen your immune system, rely on poison to make you stronger.
We fall prey to this trick because we don’t believe that the Lord Jesus, who indwells us, is the anti-body to not only our neighbors infection, but also our own, that we inflict on them.
Fear of our neighbors sin has blinded us to our own.This would be a good place to remind us that Jesus told us to remove the log from our own eye so that we can see clearly to take the splinter from our neighbors.
Apparently, we all have something in our eyes.We don’t need to defend the truth at the cost of losing a family member who is mistaken, deceived or even proud.
They will not be able to stand up to the flood of love and conviction of the Holy Spirit that He releases on them, when we quit trying to do His work and just let Him do it.
And if they do manage to stand up to Him, like Judas, they will go out from among us, proving that they were never part of us.
If we will continue in meekness, walking in truth ourselves, loving even our enemies, calling out to Father to change the hearts of those who oppose themselves and us, then we will witness the miracle of unity that turned the Roman Empire upside down in a generation.
blessings
Greg
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of Unity
In my last few posts, I’ve considered the relationship between the gospel and “togetherness” and the relationship between the gospel and good works. It seems natural (at least to me) to continue looking at the fullness of the gospel.
In the this post, I’m looking at the relationship between the gospel and unity.
From the outset, I recognize that the gospel is a dividing force. But, the good news is a divider between those who are God’s children and those who are not God’s children. The good news of Jesus Christ does NOT separate brothers and sisters in Christ from one another. Instead, it does just the opposite: the gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of unity.
Instead of looking at just one passage, I’m going to point out several passage that connect the good news of Jesus Christ with our unity (that is, with our relational unity to others who are brothers and sisters in Christ).
For example, Jesus’ famous prayer in John 17 touches on this connection:
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21 ESV)
Similarly, Paul places our relational unity in the same context of our one Lord, one faith, and even God’s unity:
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6 ESV)
And, of course, that statement follows Paul’s exhortation to “maintain the unity of the Spirit.” (Ephesians 4:3 ESV) (See also Paul’s statement in Ephesians 2:14-16.)
Likewise, when Peter wrote to believers scattered around the Roman empire (1 Peter 1:1), he reminded them of their unity in the gospel:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 ESV)
Peter’s descriptions above stand out grammatically. The subject “you” is plural; he talking to multiple people at the same time. But, the descriptors (i.e., “a chosen race,” a royal priesthood,” “a holy nation”, “a people”) are all singular, emphasizing their unity.
Unity is not just a good idea; it is a result of the gospel of Jesus Christ – just as “togetherness” and good works are a result of the good news. We cannot separate these into different categories; they go together. If we are not united with brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, then we are not maintaining the unity of the Spirit, and we are not living according to the gospel.
In fact, as we submit more and more to the lordship of Jesus Christ – yielding ourselves to him daily – we will also grow in unity with one another. A lack of unity is an indication that we are not submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord.
It may sound harsh, but it’s true.
The Togetherness of the Gospel
The gospel of Jesus Christ results in a new people of the Spirit. I think that most people would agree with that statement. However, sometimes we miss just how much “togetherness” there is associated with the gospel in Scripture.
For example, I was recently reading through a familiar passage in Ephesians, and I came away from that passage with an every greater appreciation for the fellowship, unity, community, and… well… “togetherness” of the gospel.
It all began when I read this short passage:
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles — assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:1-6 ESV)
I originally turned to this passage to think about the “mystery” that Paul said had been revealed to him and to others in his generation. But, when I got the last sentence, I was struck by something unexpected.
You see, “fellow heirs,” “members of the same body,” and “partakers” are three adjectives in Greek, each of which have been prefixed with the conjunction that means something like “together with.” When you look at the sentence in Greek, those three adjectives stand out like rhyming words or capitalized words in English.
Perhaps it would help if we translated the verse in a way that highlighted these parallels: “This mystery is that the Gentiles are heirs together with us, members of body together with us, and partakers of the promise together with us in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
If I’m right, then Paul is heavily emphasizing the “togetherness” that he says is “in Christ Jesus” and “through the gospel.”
But, the emphasis is even more apparent when we realize that Paul is talking about Gentiles TOGETHER WITH Jews in the grace of God. As he had written just a few paragraphs earlier:
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Ephesians 2:13-16 ESV)
Enemies have now been reconciled to God and to one another, to live TOGETHER WITH God and one another. If enemies have been reconciled to God and to one another through the gospel, how much more should those who are not enemies share their lives TOGETHER WITH one another?
Paul did not know of an individualist gospel. Of course, I think that’s because Jesus did not know an individualistic gospel either. The good news of Jesus Christ includes salvation for people… a salvation that creates a new people who are known for togetherness.
But, if we’re not know for togetherness…
Examples of Christians working together in spite of disagreements
We disagree. It’s a fact of life. If you spend time with someone else, you will find something that you disagree with them about.
For too long, the church has allowed disagreements that are not gospel related to separate brothers and sisters in Christ from one another. In his prayer in John 17, Jesus said that the world would know that the Father sent him because of our unity. I wonder what our disunity tells the world…
Anyway, Felicity at “Simply Church” has written another excellent post called “Blurring the distinctives.” In this post she talks about Christians working together in spite of their disagreements.
Here’s part of her post:
Another set of distinctions that is increasingly blurring is that between simple/organic church and legacy churches. It used to be that legacy churches viewed those in simple/organic churches as rebellious, rejecting authority, unsubmissive. In turn, those in simple churches tended to view others as not really on the cutting edge of what God was doing.
Thankfully, this is no longer the case. Small and large churches are working together. The Kingdom has become more important than what we ourselves are doing.
Imagine that. These people still disagree with one another over what form and structure the church should take, but they are willing to set those disagreements aside, accept one another in Christ, and work together for the sake of the kingdom.
What is this world coming to…