I recently went with a friend to his church’s social down at our local beach. I didn’t think much of it at the time, and it was a fun experience getting to meet fellow brothers and sisters whom I didn’t know.
On our way back, however, another friend we had travelled with started complaining about it – that they didn’t want to be associated with that church at all, due to differences in theology and opinion. I was blindsided by this as the church is known to be orthodox in its teaching.
Hot topics
The only major difference was on headship, in that they don’t allow female leaders (this is an entire topic on its own that I won’t be addressing here). This got me thinking on the concept of church unity.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John chapter 13, verse 34-35)
Since then, this verse has been bouncing around my head. The topics of female leadership, vaccines, leadership style, among other things have cropped up in recent times as hot topics (which once again, I won’t be addressing here) over which we have fractured as a body.
The Reformation, for all the (necessary) good it did in correcting our beliefs and returning us to Scripture, has also given us permission to schism if we disagree with our family members.
Different
While I agree that corrections are necessary when something fundamentally affects salvation, it also seems that we are now breaking fellowship over unnecessarily small issues. The story above isn’t an isolated event, and it paints us in abad light for any non-believers who are around to witness it.
We as a church, universal and invisible, or local and visible, are comprised of many people, with various backgrounds, cultures, and worldviews. Even the way we interpret the Bible is different!
When I read the Bible, I read it through a different lens than my wife, and so we pick up on different things. I tend to appreciate God’s sovereignty and kingship while my wife appreciates God’s gentle fatherly nature. All this can bring conflict, simply because it is different.
Fight or celebrate
But what differences are worth fighting for? And what are differences we can tolerate, and maybe even celebrate?
I recently read this quote:
“[Heresy] is a mistake or inadequacy which threatens the reality of Christian salvation. "If God/Christ were like that, God/Christ couldn't save us. If we were like that, we wouldn't need saving"” – (The Global Church, Donal Fairbairn)
Fairbairns goes on to note that heresy is merely an inadequate expression of faith that results in a discontinuity with the whole of Scripture, because the heretic focuses so much on what some of Scripture says.
All of us have bad theology, but we’re still getting saved because of Jesus. Not one of us has a complete and thorough understanding of who YHWH is. It’s God’s very nature to be infinite and eternal, which makes him beyond comprehension.
We instead can affirm who we believe, His characteristics, and what He’s done. Affirming our commonalities rather than dissenting over our differences could go a long way towards standing out in a “cancel” culture that rates forgiveness very lowly.
In all this, I am not advocating for a removal of church discipline or correction. Rather, I wonder if we have become as fractious and contentious as the world around us. Have we lost the unity and love for one another that would make us stand out disciples of Christ?
What would it look like to affirm our core commonalities across denominations, geographies, race, class, rather than focusing on our differences?
I disciple university students in the University of Canterbury through the Navigators while currently working towards a Master of Divinity. Outside of this, my wife and I enjoy rock climbing and going on adventures with our dog.