Unity, not uniformity. Diversity, not division. Jonathan’s two main points about the nature of the church are well taken. God intends for churches, movements, and denominations to be marked by these characteristics. And yet I wonder if we can push this in a different direction: toward the local church.
When it comes to conversations about Christian unity, we often have the “collective” church in mind. Recently, it seems that conferences, conventions, seminars, and books have tended to focus on drawing Christians of all stripes together for the sake of glorifying God. Even in our own movement, the Church of God (Anderson), our annual convention is repeatedly billed as an opportunity for the church to come together in unity. Last year’s “Global Gathering” in Anderson is a prime example. The website for this year’s convention in Oklahoma City carries the same implications:
To be bold, we must understand the times, band together, and embrace a new day as one. … The movement cannot move if its leaders, representing a broad cross-section of the church, do not meet together. [emphasis added]
Unity among all Christians is a noble goal and is certainly part of what Jesus had in mind in his John 17 prayer. But you know as well as I do that any individual local congregation goes through periods of disunity and division, and those periods are potentially just as harmful to the gospel message as the antagonism among different denominations.
Think about your local church. Reflect on its history. Was there a pastor who drove away half the congregation twenty years ago? Was there a family conflict (such as divorce or infidelity) that exploded into a full-church problem? Was there a time when parents left church because they felt their children were being treated unfairly by the youth leaders? I know churches in which those very things happened. Maybe those things are taking place in your congregation right now.
What if your local church truly experienced unity in Christ? What would that look like? Consider Jonathan’s points in reverse order:
Diversity, not division. The beauty of the church is that we are all unique individuals who are joined together by a common Savior. Within any body of believers, there is – and should be – tremendous diversity. In my congregation, we have Democrats and Republicans, the elderly and the young, the rich and the poor, the gun-rights crowd and the pacifists. Granted, we have more of one than the other in each of those categories. And, granted, we lag far behind in racial diversity. But we are diverse. We have different perspectives on life. We have different values, goals, and interests. We like different kinds of music and different styles of preaching. These differences could be cause for division – and, in our church’s past, they have been. But our challenge is to practice unity in the context of our diversity, and thus to give witness to our faith in the Lord who makes us one.
Unity, not uniformity. The local church’s diversity is not a problem that must be corrected. It is not the impetus for enforcing uniformity on the people of God. Instead, it is an opportunity for us to practice unity. Our unity begins and ends in Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. When we share the Lord’s Supper, we all eat from the same loaf (theologically speaking, if not practically speaking). Yet not all pieces of bread are uniform. Some are larger; some are smaller. Some are edge pieces; others are crust-free. If you think I’m nit-picking here, then you get it: uniformity in the church is irrelevant. Our unity comes not from all of us voting the same way or paying income taxes at the same rate. Our unity comes from the source of life, the fount of salvation, the head of the church. Practicing unity in the local church requires that we keep our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
Diversity and unity. Can you imagine a local church that lived in those modes? All our concerns about denominational conflicts are meaningful, but I would argue that the unity of the local church is of more immediate and lasting importance.
When 2 or 3, with different points of view, are gathered in the unified interests of Christ, he will be there tugging all three towards the truth. If we are all like minded, none of us really help the others see the bigger picture, we are really all one echoing to our other selves.
Speaking with Jews, or Hindus, or Atheists helps me see that the Church is a lot bigger than imagined, that these are my brothers, too & maybe even see some glimpses of the Promised Land.