Psalm 133 says this: 'How good and how pleasant it is when brother's dwell together in Unity. It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion! For here the Lord has commanded a blessing, life forever more.'
It is not very often in Scripture that God commands a blessing but we see it here and it is very much unity related. The New Testament goes even further and calls for onenness (John 17 v 12) and in a good many other places.
The history of Protestantism has been a history of splits and divides but this need not nor should not be so. When Paul wrote his epistles he didn't write them to all the denominations he just wrote them to Christians in a given locality or City indeed Acts 2 chapter 1 says that the great day of Pentecost came 'when all the Christians (in a given locality) were together in one place'.
I need to point out that I am not just writing a blog on unity for unities sake for there are certain things upon which Christians (or children of God) should not compromise for the sake of holiness. I shall discuss this in future posts. But if our brother or sister are truly committed to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ then surely we should be committed to loving them and sharing in their joys and sorrows.
Before I complete this first blog entry I need to point out that a website such as this was first put together by a dear Christian lady called Thola. Unfortunately I lost contact with Thola quite a while ago whom I believe moved to South Africa and I can't seem to be able to contact her and her website seems to have gone too. However, unity (or oneness) is ultimately God's plan. So I hope and believe that she would be glad that I am continuing in the quest that she started.
One final thought before I complete this first post is that throughout eternity. denominations will cease and there will just be Christians (God's children) if this is going to be our eternal state then shouldn't we be getting a little practice beforehand?
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
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7 comments:
If Christians should not split then do think the Reformation should not have occurred? What about the formation of the new charismatic churches like New Frontiers?
Dear Robhu
Thank you for your question. I think it is quite pertinent. To the best of my knowledge, and I am certainly not an expert, Luther's intention was not to cause a division but for the church to 'walk in truth' (3 John). I have deliberately included truth in the title as any unity that doesn't base itself in this i.e. the whole counsel of God pointing to Jesus (the living word) is really a house based on sand.
As a 'member' of a New Frontiers church for the past 15 years I obviously have a great respect for them. Although I ultimately see myself as part of the wider body of Christ.
But every new group that springs up thinks they've got the truth and the others haven't or that they're closer to the truth than everyone else, and this action of forming a new group (or 'realigning' or whatever term is used) by it's very nature is about breaking unity with the previous group.
I think that sometimes it is not the people with the fresh revelations that cause division, but those who are opposing them. A clear example of this was The Great Awakening when Wesley and others wanted to stay in the Church of England but got thrown out.
All of the analogies of the Church eg body, family, army, bride etc refer to the togetherness of all believers and indeed one characteristic of the triune God is the fact that it is one in nature. 'Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing etc etc.' The Bible says 'be immitators of God' so presumably that not only refers to individuals but corporately too.
I think that just because one group of people have a revelation doesn't make invalid what has gone before. One book that has really blessed me in that it covers various strands of the church is Streams of Living Water by Richard Foster.
When I started visiting my current church - City Church Cambridge in 1994 one prophecy it had over it was that it was to be a catalyst for unity. Surely if we all share the same Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, then we all belong to the same sheepfold?
To my mind much of what divides Christians these days is more socio-political than doctrinal- e.g the way many believers seem to regard one's stance on abortion, homosexuality, single mums etc as a sort of litmus test of one's orthodoxy. It is surely better to focus on what unites us as Christians and I think the sacraments of Communion and Baptism are maybe the key- as the Anglican service says "though we are many we are one body because we all share in one bread...." here we have two rituals shared by all Christians of every stripe wherever they may be and perhaps here is a means of transcending our earthly squabbles.....
Thanks for your contribution, Andy.
Hi Andy
I have thought further about your comments and I am aware that although Christians have certain things in common that they are still divided. Even with Baptism Christians have differences eg regarding the validity of infant baptism and with communion there are those who believe it should be real wine and those who say it should be fruit juice. In addition Christians are divided by a whole range of things from the style of service to women in ministry.
The point is that if we really are children of God then the things we have in common should outweigh those that seperate us for 'Jesus is coming back for a bride who is spotless and without wrinkle'and surely a bride should be of one mind and not many.
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