Tag: unity

Romans 3:21-31

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment


            Every letter which Paul wrote had its purpose to address some particular problem(s) in the church.  A common situation that Paul continually went after was the disunity between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile believers.  The Roman church had within it both groups of people.  Paul’s great concern was to not establish and maintain two distinct churches based in ethnicity, but one church completely centered in the person and work of Jesus.
             The problem was that many of the Jewish Christians thought they had a leg-up by simply being Jews.  They tended toward a certain arrogance in which they took for granted that new Gentile believers must also adopt Jewish ways.  But the Gentiles fared no better.  They believed the Jews to be hopelessly stuck in their traditions and tended to look down on their brothers and sisters.
             Into this situation Paul makes it clear that no group of people is better than the other because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift.”  This kind of teaching was like a sonic boom to the church.  Although both Jew and Gentile were to appreciate one another’s differences, those differences were secondary to the grand design of the church to show no favoritism.  All are sinners.  All come to Christ by grace through faith.  There is no ground for human boasting of pedigree or practice.
             The Western church today finds itself increasingly within a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural milieu not too unlike the early Roman church.  Taking a good close look at the book of Romans would be a wise approach to fostering corporate unity and personal spiritual formation.  For then we will see ourselves through biblical lenses.
             Just God, you are the one who justifies based upon your own good pleasure.  Thank you for delivering me from my wayward beliefs.  Help me to appreciate your gracious justifying work more and more, to the glory of Jesus.  Amen.

1 Peter 3:8-18a

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Sometimes people say things that are uncaring, insensitive, and even downright stupid – things that do not reflect the gospel of grace.  Indeed, there is enough sinfulness to go around no matter where you go.
 
            The Apostle Peter gave some practical commands to occupy us in the midst of troubling speech and actions that people say and do.  Rather than responding in kind by verbally decapitating another person, either to their face or behind their back, we are to “have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”  Peter sums it up by saying, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called.”
 
            If we ever wonder or struggle with what God is calling us to, it is clear as a bell in this Scripture.  Grace is our business, and we are not to respond ungraciously to others’ lack of mercy.  If we put our focus on blessing others with these practices, no matter who they are, we will set ourselves apart as people who follow the way of Jesus.  And make no mistake about it:  the way of Jesus is the way of suffering grace.  It does not mean keeping silent; it means actively blessing through a tender heart and a humble mind.
 
            Humility is the cornerstone of all other biblical virtues.  Every Christian must be ready to accept the things that are not within his/her control, and then respond humbly with love.  If this sounds wishy-washy to you, then I would say you have never even tried it because it takes a courageous strength of faith to put into practice a spirit of meekness.  To this we are called.
            Gracious God, who sent Jesus to humbly suffer for my sins, engraft your humility in me so that I might respond with love in thought, word, and deed to every person and circumstance in my life.  Amen.

Christian Unity

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
The rallying cry of the church is the gospel, living and proclaiming the message of Christ’s cross instead of grouping ourselves around voices that cater to our personal preferences.  That is the message the Apostle Paul made clear to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 1:10-18).
 
            There are two pledges we need to make to God and to each other in the church of Jesus Christ:  1) I will be a unifying church member; and, 2) I will not let my church be about my preferences and desires.
 
            God desires for Christians to get along and to work together, and that cannot happen if all we want is what we want.  Jesus himself said to his disciples and to us as his followers:  “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).  Unity in the church and communicating the message of forgiveness and love through the cross can only happen when people seek to be gracious to each other so that a watching world can see the validity of Christ within us.
 
            Christians all have a responsibility as followers of Jesus to be a source of unity and not division.  Paul said to the church at Ephesus that all believers are to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).  Unity does not just happen; it must be pursued and be a common value of everyone in the church.  Paul said to the church of the Colossians that the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience are to be tied together with love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:14).  To the church of the Philippians, Paul was equally straightforward by saying that we are to be like-minded, having the same love for each other that we have for Jesus, being united in spirit and purpose.  We are to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility we are to consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:1-4).  Unity is common theme in all of Paul’s letters, and he considered it as a top priority that all the churches uphold the cross of Christ and sacrifice anything less in order to communicate God’s love in Christ to others.
 
            The specific problem in the Corinthian church was their allegiance to different individuals, that is, playing the game of favorite preacher and pastor and grouping around how that particular pastor teaches and does ministry.  It is a classic case of church members saying to each other:  “That’s not how so and so did it!”  Following our pet preachers ends up in division because people then focus on the methodsof ministry rather than the substanceof the ministry itself:  the wondrous cross of Christ that saves us from our pettiness and transforms us into forgiven people who spread forgiveness and healing through cauterizing wounds and being peacemakers.  In other words, our primary loyalty is to be Christ and the message of the cross, and not to particular personalities or programs.
 
            The sin of the Corinthians was misguided loyalties, and the answer to wrong priorities is to have Jesus and the cross our central and guiding allegiance.  The Corinthian believers were emotionally tied to the pastor who baptized them and who was a significant force for good in their lives.  It is more than understandable to have a special relationship with the pastor who baptized your children, or taught you, or was there for you when you needed it most.  What is not okay, however, is following that pastor as if he/she is Jesus, and insisting that church be done the way my favorite preacher does it.  Christian unity means to agree with one another about the good news of Christ, and let everything else be a matter of lesser importance.  Can you live with that?
 
            Here is a sobering reality that has been true throughout church history and is no different today:  not everyone in every church is there to follow Jesus – and as long as that is a reality, there will be schisms, factions, cliques, divisions and disunity because the visible church always has a mix of righteous and unrighteous people within it concerned more about power politics than humbly following Jesus and spreading his message of forgiveness. 
 
Yet, also a reality is that sin in the church has been taken seriously throughout history as something that destroys its unity and purity.  It has only been in the last three-hundred years that sin has been viewed as something that is only personal, and a matter between the individual and God.  In the early churches believers desiring to repent of their sins would typically spend a period of time fasting and praying and then appear before the entire church to make a public confession.  I am not necessarily endorsing that method for us, but the message remains essential:  to agree with one another and make peace by stopping the bleeding and bringing healing to the community of the redeemed.  The power of Christianity is in the blood of Jesus to forgive sins, and not in trying to ensure things get done the way we think they ought to get done in the way our favorite people do them.
 
            Thom Rainer is a nationally recognized church researcher.  In a survey of churches in membership decline, he found several common dominant behavior patterns that emerged.  Here are a few of them, and they all bring some form of disunity:
  1. Worship wars.  One or more factions in the church want the music just the way they like it.  Any deviation is met with anger and complaining.
  2. Viewing the preservation and protection of the church building as one of the highest priorities, above the church members’ spiritual growth and maturity.
  3. Particular programs are held in such high regard that, even if they are not effective, the church keeps doing them.
  4. Attitudes of entitlement.  A sense of deserving special treatment and attention.
  5. Greater concern about change than the gospel.  Rainer says, “Almost any noticeable changes in the church evoke the ire of many; but those same passions are not evident about participating in the work of the gospel to change lives.”
  6. Evangelistic apathy.  Very few members share their faith on a regular basis; they are more concerned for their own needs, and not so much of those outside the church.
One of the jobs of church leadership is to make sure that there is unity around the things that are most important to God.  Christian unity is not built on trying to keep everyone happy; it is built on the good news of Jesus Christ.  Paul said that the cross of Christ is more important than anything else, no matter how important we think that “something” may be.  Christians must unite around the gospel.  All the practical and important stuff of human life must be shaped and governed by the cross of Jesus, because that is where God’s power saved the world and where true hope lies for everyone. 
 

 

            Paul did not demand that all Christians be identical.  Instead, he invited us to identify with Jesus Christ first and last.  We all need God’s will done in our lives more than we need our preferences realized.  If that seems foolish, then let’s embrace foolishness because the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but the power of God for those who believe.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Theology That Makes a Difference

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).  Every Sunday I have the privilege of proclaiming this wonderful benediction at the end of the worship service.  As believers in Jesus Christ, we do not serve a generic God, but acknowledge that all three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, exist together eternally.  This is important because our identity as Christians is wrapped up in God as the Trinity.  Our worship, our life together, and our mission are based in the understanding of the triune God.
 
In the Apostle Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthian church, his focus was on addressing the continuing problem of special interest groups creating divisions and factions within the church.  He wanted the congregation to know that such behavior is inconsistent with who God is.  Paul zeroed in on the fact that God in Christ has brought reconciliation not only between God and people, but between one another in the church.  So, Paul’s point in ending his epistle with this benediction was to promote reconciliation and unity within the church.  Grace, love, and fellowship are available to God’s people.  Just as there is unity and harmony within God himself, there is to be unity and harmony in the church.  Unity will be a practical reality only when the church receives grace, love, and fellowship and then chooses to give it to one another.
 
Our triune God wants us to not just know what these blessings are, but to experience them.  A Trinitarian understanding of God is not simply a doctrine to believe, but a powerful reality to be lived!  The virtues of grace, love, and fellowship are blessings to be received and blessings that are to be liberally thrown back out to people.  In this way God is glorified through his people.
 
God has created us in his image.  That image is the image of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  The way our triune God relates within himself in perfect love and fellowship is to be reflected in our own human relationships with one another.
 
Here are some implications of the Trinity for our relationships in the church and the world:
  1. We will regard everyone in the church as an equal.  People are people, period.  When we start referring to them other than that name of “person” we distance ourselves from them, i.e. “someone should do something” is the ultimate act of misnaming and removal from being active in people’s lives.
  2. We will have concern for other churches besides our own local church or ministry.  We will share our resources and help each other accomplish the mission of God.  Grace, love, and fellowship ought to happen between churches and ministries who share the common theological doctrine of the Trinity.
  3. We will treat each family member as important, i.e. avoiding terms like “black sheep” or being so upset that one doesn’t talk for years with a family member.  The same goes for the family of God.  God in Christ has reconciled us with the Spirit, helping us to make it a reality in our human relationships so that we really have no excuse to hold a grudge.
  4. We will treat all human beings with respect, dignity, and value, rather than with suspicion or for what they can do for us.

 

The unselfish love of the members of the Trinity spills over into love for God’s creatures, and, so, this received love ought to overflow into the lives of others.  This is precisely how God is glorified.  This is to be what we celebrate, and what we practice.  This is theology that makes a difference.  Soli Deo Gloria!