This week I received an email
from our association of churches regarding the “Week of Prayer for
Associational Missions.” Right here from the beginning I want to make something
very, very clear. I am not writing this blog article in order to defame or
criticize any individuals involved in the association or the association
itself. I am writing this blog article to discuss an idea that permeates
through evangelical churches and denominations that not only can be, but has
been disastrous to the mission given of Christ to the Church to make disciples.
I want us as Christians to think critically through what we are saying and the
consequences of what we believe and what we say and what we do. I ask that you
please read this article through remembering although I am quoting something
that has been published by an association, my intentions are to make a point
questioning whether we as Christians can find unity through the autonomy of our
churches. The publication I received reads:
The Southern Baptist Convention has designated this week as the Week of Prayer for Associations. The _____ _______ Baptist Association is made up of churches who cooperate to do missions and to support one another. Cooperation among churches and believers are important to doing God’s work in ________ County and around the world.
This week we will be praying for lostness in our county.
The Southern Baptist Convention has designated this week as the Week of Prayer for Associations. The _____ _______ Baptist Association is made up of churches who cooperate to do missions and to support one another. Cooperation among churches and believers are important to doing God’s work in ________ County and around the world.
This week we will be praying for lostness in our county.
Today’s prayer request is to focus on Cooperation and
Unity among our churches. Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would be one. He also
said in that as the Father had sent Him that he was sending us. Let us pray
that we would obey his command to go and that we echo Jesus prayer for unity
among our ministers and member to glorify him and that people would be saved.
John
17:21-23:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for
those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be
one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so
that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory
that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me
and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
John 20:21:
Again Jesus said, “Peace
be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
There
are two points of emphasis here in this request for prayer; cooperation and
unity. This prayer request though is tainted in many ways, not because it
speaks of cooperation and unity, but because it says, “Cooperation and Unity
among our churches” (emphasis added)
and then the request goes on to quote John 17:21-23 which has to do with unity
with Jesus, unity with the Father, and the unity of all believers. Now I know
that this may seem overly critical, but I want to make a simple point. How can
Baptist churches or any denomination for that matter, cooperate and be united
to one another when they are autonomous. Can these churches truly cooperate and
be united at the same time? I say no and mainly it is a negative based upon semantics.
Cooperation
is really another way of saying that we have a sense uniformity of ideals or
appearance for a purpose of mutual benefit without the necessity of being
unified in thought and practice. Unity on the other hand is defined as:
The state of being one; oneness. Unity may consist of a simple substance or existing being, as the soul; but usually it consists in a close junction of particles or parts, constituting a body detached from other bodies. Unity is a thing undivided itself, but separate from ever other thing.
Unity is not the same as cooperation. Yes, I can see that there is without a doubt the ability for these Baptist churches to cooperate in the task that they are called to and that that they might in word have the same uniform purpose of making disciples, but is that what God has called His Church to be? Is that what John 17 is talking about? Is there to be oneness amongst only Baptists or only a particular association of Baptists or is John 17 about unity and oneness among Christ’s bride, His Church? I believe wholeheartedly that it is the latter. Yes, there might be a sense of cooperation amongst the Church today, but there is not unity and praying about unity is not enough.
The state of being one; oneness. Unity may consist of a simple substance or existing being, as the soul; but usually it consists in a close junction of particles or parts, constituting a body detached from other bodies. Unity is a thing undivided itself, but separate from ever other thing.
Unity is not the same as cooperation. Yes, I can see that there is without a doubt the ability for these Baptist churches to cooperate in the task that they are called to and that that they might in word have the same uniform purpose of making disciples, but is that what God has called His Church to be? Is that what John 17 is talking about? Is there to be oneness amongst only Baptists or only a particular association of Baptists or is John 17 about unity and oneness among Christ’s bride, His Church? I believe wholeheartedly that it is the latter. Yes, there might be a sense of cooperation amongst the Church today, but there is not unity and praying about unity is not enough.
To
pray for unity without searching Scripture to know what true unity is, and then
not obey what God’s Word says, is useless. Just look at James 2:14-26 (ESV):
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
We learn in the catechisms as children that prayer is asking God for things He has promised to give. So prayer for unity without action on behalf of what is revealed is dead; no differently than faith without action is dead. If we are going to pray for unity, we do not get to redefine what unity is. We do not get to add to or take away from God’s Word the definition God has given for unity, but we must act on it. Unity has to do with more than just bearing with one another. We find in Ephesians 4:1-6 (ESV) that it says:
I 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 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.
Using this Scripture alone we can see the problem. The unity described here is not about a denomination, but Christ’s Church. This is where the problem lies. This is where the spirit of unity and conformity and cooperation break down. You see, here is where the dividing line is drawn in the sand per se. We can “bear with another,” meaning we can stand to be around one another for a period of time, but when it comes to unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace which is one body called to one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God…we become divided. Why? It is not just because doctrinal divides, but more importantly denominational divides. We can stand together for social causes, but when it comes to the purpose of Christ’s Church to make disciples and to be light-bearers of Him, we cannot do it. We cannot even do it among denominational lines. There is as much division within individual denominations as there is amongst the different denominations. And we wonder why the world looks at “Christianity” and turns its nose up.
We have become a disgrace to the name of Christ. What would Paul have written our churches about what we done to Christianity? Would he not have praised the Corinthian church over us? If we truly want to see Christ made famous in our world and if we want to see our lives and families and communities and our world transformed by Christ, then our churches, and our denomination and our associations need to be transformed by Christ. We need to start putting God’s Word before ourselves. We need to start putting His truth before our denominational traditions and man-made and man-centered doctrines. We need to realize that our denominations as they stand today have become but beautiful white-washed tombs on the outside, but on the inside they are full of dead man’s bones (Matthew 23:27). While we have beautiful buildings and awesome worship services that we choose to come and congregate together around, there remains an underlying stench of a decaying body. Is that what you want to be known for as Christians? Is that what you want the epitaph of your church and your denomination to be? No, then do something about it. If you don’t want to do anything about, then stop using the word unity and please do not pray for it, because it just becomes a clanging cymbal in the ears of God and it makes the rest of us Christians who want true unity look foolish in the eyes of a lost and dying world. Don’t claim to desire to make disciples, when what you really mean is to make Baptists and Episcopals and Lutherans and Methodists and Presbyterians, or whatever denominational affiliation you hold to, instead of making disciples of Christ that follow His commands found in His Word and not out charters and our confessions and our covenants. May we find true unity.
Because Christ’s love compels,
Russell Traweek
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
We learn in the catechisms as children that prayer is asking God for things He has promised to give. So prayer for unity without action on behalf of what is revealed is dead; no differently than faith without action is dead. If we are going to pray for unity, we do not get to redefine what unity is. We do not get to add to or take away from God’s Word the definition God has given for unity, but we must act on it. Unity has to do with more than just bearing with one another. We find in Ephesians 4:1-6 (ESV) that it says:
I 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 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.
Using this Scripture alone we can see the problem. The unity described here is not about a denomination, but Christ’s Church. This is where the problem lies. This is where the spirit of unity and conformity and cooperation break down. You see, here is where the dividing line is drawn in the sand per se. We can “bear with another,” meaning we can stand to be around one another for a period of time, but when it comes to unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace which is one body called to one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God…we become divided. Why? It is not just because doctrinal divides, but more importantly denominational divides. We can stand together for social causes, but when it comes to the purpose of Christ’s Church to make disciples and to be light-bearers of Him, we cannot do it. We cannot even do it among denominational lines. There is as much division within individual denominations as there is amongst the different denominations. And we wonder why the world looks at “Christianity” and turns its nose up.
We have become a disgrace to the name of Christ. What would Paul have written our churches about what we done to Christianity? Would he not have praised the Corinthian church over us? If we truly want to see Christ made famous in our world and if we want to see our lives and families and communities and our world transformed by Christ, then our churches, and our denomination and our associations need to be transformed by Christ. We need to start putting God’s Word before ourselves. We need to start putting His truth before our denominational traditions and man-made and man-centered doctrines. We need to realize that our denominations as they stand today have become but beautiful white-washed tombs on the outside, but on the inside they are full of dead man’s bones (Matthew 23:27). While we have beautiful buildings and awesome worship services that we choose to come and congregate together around, there remains an underlying stench of a decaying body. Is that what you want to be known for as Christians? Is that what you want the epitaph of your church and your denomination to be? No, then do something about it. If you don’t want to do anything about, then stop using the word unity and please do not pray for it, because it just becomes a clanging cymbal in the ears of God and it makes the rest of us Christians who want true unity look foolish in the eyes of a lost and dying world. Don’t claim to desire to make disciples, when what you really mean is to make Baptists and Episcopals and Lutherans and Methodists and Presbyterians, or whatever denominational affiliation you hold to, instead of making disciples of Christ that follow His commands found in His Word and not out charters and our confessions and our covenants. May we find true unity.
Because Christ’s love compels,
Russell Traweek
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