The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his080/no_unity.arj/NO-UNITY.TXT

Text File | 1990-02-24 | 10.2 KB | 181 lines

                    UNITY...AT WHAT PRICE?
                       by Keith Green

     Today there is much talk among Christians about the need for
unity. Wherever Christians gather you can hear someone saying, "If
only all the believers could get together and agree, then the world
would sit up and take notice! THEN the devil would be running scared!
Then there would be real revival!!" The whole ecumenical movement is
based on such a conclusion.
     I must admit the thought sounds wonderful - to have all those
different denominations (and "non"-denominations) in love and
fellowship with one another - that would be something, wouldn't it!
Ah...but don't hold your breath...IT CAN'T HAPPEN. There'll always be
a couple of real Christians around to spoil it!
     "What?!" You say, "How could REAL Christians spoil it? Wouldn't
THEY be the very ones who would be the most loving and ready to
unite?" Oh yes! True belivers are full of love - love for God, love
for their brothers and sisters, love for souls - in fact, love would
be the VERY THING that would make them oppose a mass move of unity.

    "What?!" You say again, "Why that's the most absurd thing I've
ever heard! How could love keep them from wanting to get together with
everyone else who cofesses to love God? You're not going to get me to
believe that people with such deep love wouldn't just LOVE to see all
the churches and professing Christians come together in unity? Why,
what could they love more than that??"

     Well, they love THE TRUTH! Yep, they're pretty attached to it -
those true believers can even seem right stubborn and ornery at times
- the way they stick to the truth.

                          UNITY - MAN'S WAY

    Some people have the craziest ideas! They want to try and do what
only God can do. "Let's play Holy Spirit!" That's what they seem to be
saying. They think that if they can just get everyone to quit arguing
about their different doctrinal beliefs, then unity is right around
the corner. "Let's just all try and fellowship and talk about those
things in the Bible we all can agree on."
    There's only one problem with that kind of thinking...isn't the
Bible ALL true? How can we just find the lowest common denominator to
which all Christians can agree to, and label the rest of the Bible
(God's Holy Word) "unessential for unity."
    In his book, Today's Gospel - Authentic or Synthetic?, Walter
Chantry looks into the reasons for the failures of modern evangelism
and foreign missions. In the introduction Mr. Chantry writes:

    "Having accepted the theory that unity is all-important for world
evangelism, both the Church and the individual must lower their
estimate of the value of truth. In a large congress on evanelism we
could not insist on a truth of God's Word that would offend any
brother evengelical. After all, unity (among Christians) is more
essential than doctrinal preciseness.
    "It is for just this reason that the mission boards are hesitant
to answer the question, 'What is the gospel?' Thoroughly to answer
that would destroy the mission society, which is a federation of
churches who have differing answers to that question. To adopt the
position of one church would be to lose the support of five others.
The whole system built on unity and generality would crumble."

                        UNITY - GOD'S WAY
                    (Jesus' prayer in John 17)

    Many base their quest for true godly unity on an important
passage in the gospel of John. Here in chapter 17, Jesus is praying
for His disciples "that they all may be one..." (v.21). This verse
certainly shows that the Lord desires His followers to have unity and
truly "be one". but in the very next verse (v.22), we see some key
words "...that they may be one EVEN AS WE ARE ONE."     How are the
Father and Son one? In every way! They have no doctrinal disputes.
They have no differing theologies. They do not argue over the rapture.
They completely agree...on EVERYTHING!

     But you might ask, "How can every Christian agree on doctrine? If
we wait for that, we'll NEVER have unity!" You're missing the point.
It's not knowing "doctrine" that's important, it's knowing God. Only
through entering into an intimate, personal relationship with the
living God and leaving behind the doctrines and theologies created by
men and church tradition, can we ever hope to find the unity Jesus
prayed for: "I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect
in one...Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be
with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory..." (John 17:23-24).
     What does the word "theology" mean anyway? It means "the study of
God". Today, theological students do not study God, they study about
God. At best, they study the writings of men who themselves have
studied God. Why, they really ought to change the word theology to
theology-ology or "the study of the study of God!"

                      TRUE AND FALSE DIVISION

     How many times have you heard that somebody was "causing division
in the church?" Well, maybe they were supposed to! After all, there
are two things that cause division according to the Bible: truth and
error. (I can just see now all the eyebrows raising.) Haven't you
heard the scripture, "Do you suppose I cam to grant peace on earth? I
tell you, no, rather division!" That's right! Jesus said that "from
now on five members in one household will be divided three against
two, and two against three" (Luke 12:51-52). He said that whole
families would be divided over Him. And there are many occasions in
the New Testament when whole assemblies of people were divided because
of Jesus (John 7:43, 9:16, 10:19, Acts 23:6-7). You must remember
people who love the truth will divide from people who love lies.
     Now the Bible does warn us about those who would enter into our
midst and cause divisions and factions (Matt. 12:25, Rom. 16:17, 1Tim.
6:3-5, 2Tim. 2:14, 2John 10). And yes, it has always been the devil's
strategy to "divide and conquer." But these divisions are obviously
based on error, lies, and usually come from bitter and evil motives
(Titus 3:10).
     Division that comes from the proclaiming of the truth will
usually include some intense reaction and opposition, but it will also
produce good fruit and the advancement of God's kingdom (not to
mention the conversion of souls.)
     What bible story is there, Old Testament or New, where the doing
of righteousness or the preaching of the gospel does not divide men
and separate them into two very distinct categories: those who are
willing to turn and obey God, and those who actually turn on the
messenger, because he violently  disturbs their false (and usually
religious) peace?
     And today, when there are so many who are professing religion, is
it any wonder that some of the deepest truths in the Bible -
repentance, faith, holiness, etc. - are also some of the greatest
objects of debate in the Church. It must be said that those who truly
want to know God's views on these great pillars of Christian doctrine,
will appear to be divisive - and rightly so, in an age when the great
gospel message of salvation can be reduced to such a sugar-coated,
bakery-item as, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your
life!"

                     WHAT THE SCRITPTURES SAY

     Those who believe that Christians should stop bickering about
their "pet doctrines" are right. Christians should not be
argumentative, "...and the Lord's bond-servant must not be
quarrelsome..." (2Tim. 2:24). How many times have you heard stupid
arguments about prophecy? "But I just KNOW the 10th head on the dragon
in Revelation is Tahiti!" This kind of "division" is for the birds.
     Yet there ARE scriptural commands to defend the truth. "Study to
show  thyself approved...always being ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you,
yet with gentleness and reverence" (2Tim. 2:15, 1Pet. 3:15). There are
times when we cannot just "be quiet" and let differences go
unchallenged, especially when these "differences" are major and
dangerous errors that can threaten the faith of those who are weaker
and innocently uninformed.
     The whole book of Galatians was written by Paul to counteract
some very heretical teachings that had crept into the Church. "I am
amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the
grace of Christ, for a different gospel...there are some who are
disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel...you foolish
Galatians, who has bewitched you...? Are you so foolish? Having begun
by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?...You have
been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law;
you have fallen from grace" (Gal. 1:6, 7, 3:1, 3, 5:4). Them are
fightin' words! Don't you think Paul was accused of causing division
for such a strong rebuke? Yet that's just it...he was trying to! Paul
was drawing a very clear line and seemed to be saying, "Those who
believe they are saved by the Law, do not belong to Christ!" And later
Peter, in his second epistle, backs Paul up by warning the Church
about people misinterpreting some of Paul's writings "...in which are
some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable
distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own
destruction" (2Pet. 3:16). There has always been a need in God's
church to strongly divide between truth and false teaching.

                      WHAT GOD REALLY WANTS

     Man-made unity is not what God desires. He wants a holy people.
Many Christians believe that unity in itself will bring about a holy
revival. But unity cannot bring holiness, only holiness can bring
about true unity. For when God's people start seeking to live, worship
and pray according to the Holy Word of God, then God Himself will
answer Jesus' prayer and make those who seek Him, truly "one!" THEN
God will unite the hearts of those who love Him, and hate sin and
error, and He will truly shine forth from the midst of such a people -
the true people of God!
     "And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring
them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one
flock with one Shepherd." - John 10:16