unity is merely a symptom

image courtesy of free-extras.com

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[In conjunction with Rachel Held Evans' "Rally to Restore Unity."]

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I am amused.  

While I am (mostly) in control of my own blog — I decide what subjects to address, how to write about them, when to publish my thoughts, which photos to accompany them, etc — it is ultimately the reader who decides how my blog will be used.

Why am I thinking about this today?  Because of yesterday’s post:

5 reasons kjv readers aren’t celebrating

It was a satire piece.  I used the 400-year anniversary of the King James Bible to poke fun at some of the arguments conservative Christianity uses to combat Christmas, Halloween, and other popular holidays.

The post was intended as comedy.  Humor.  [And was accepted as such.]  I suppose you could say there was a point.  I was indeed speaking to some larger issues, but mostly I felt like laughing.  So I wrote a piece that made me snicker.

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So why am I amused?

Because the post has generated intelligent discussion.  Not concerning the issue I was parodying, but having to do with language constructs and the like.*  That’s as funny to me as the post was to begin with.  [This is possibly commentary, however, on how humorous the original post was -- or, rather, was not.]

I’m not at all upset with the discussion that follows the KJV post.  I am, as I said, amused.  

The writer in a public forum has complete control over his written words, but very little control over how those words are received.  And even less control (practically none) over the discussions that flow from his work.

Is it any wonder, then, that we have myriad interpretations of practically every passage in the Bible?  Are we surprised our churches read the same words but take from them wildly dissimilar meanings?  So what’s a Christian to do?

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Scripture teaches that unity is a function of the Holy Spirit.  It is the Spirit’s responsibility to “guide [us] into all truth;”** unity is his endeavor.  It is our task, then, to be obedient to Christ’s teachings as the Spirit nurtures us, the body of Christ, to maturity.

While personally I believe modern Christianity places too much emphasis on the individual, personal saviors, and the like (surely a product of our American culture), the Spirit does play this role on both macro- and micro- levels.  The church as a whole will be built up to maturity by the Spirit’s power and leading.  But also we as individuals, the Spirit indwelling each of us, will become more like Christ as the Holy Spirit guides us into obedience to Jesus’ teachings.

Unity is the result.  Not the goal.

 

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  – John 13:35

We don’t love one another in order to be disciples.  Rather, our love for one another is a symptom of our condition — that we are disciples of Christ.

I’m slightly uncomfortable, then, with the popular view that unity is equal to tolerance.  Unity is not the result of broad-mindedness.  It is the result of obedient lives, changed by the Holy Spirit to be more like Christ.

Seek obedience to Christ.  Unity will come.

[For a very practical approach to unity and obedience, see:  spiritual potty training and christian unity.]

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* Go read some of these comments – you’ll likely learn something.
** John 16:13 

spiritual potty-training and christian unity

Are our churches made up of infants?  

Unity is of utmost important in Christianity.  We miss that sometimes.  Which, perhaps, is not all that surprising when we look at Christianity as a prescribed set of doctrines to which we must adhere.  Alter the interpretation of one passage, and a fence must be built — to separate us from those heathens on the other side.  Or we overlook sin and immorality within our own tribe, because it is proper belief that demonstrates salvation — and not righteousness.  I’m afraid we’ve placed too great of importance on knowledge and right belief, and too little on loving one another and being obedient to God.

Paul would call us a bunch of babies.  No wait… Paul DOES call us a bunch of babies.  In Ephesians 4.

In this chapter Paul encourages the church at Ephesus to seek unity.  Unity is described as a function of the Holy Spirit, and it is realized as the body of Christ matures.  Let me repeat that, because it’s worth repeating:

Unity in the church is the work of the Holy Spirit.  And it is one of the most obvious and unambiguous indications that a group has reached maturity in Christ.

And we rarely exhibit it.

Perhaps I’ve got it all wrong.  Maybe I’m being too critical.  I certainly do want to join in with others in celebrating the unity we already possess — or at least toward which we’re making strides.  And I’ve experienced incredible unity in some congregations; I thank God for those churches.  But it seems to me these are the exceptions, rather than the rule.  And look at the discord between congregations.  Or worse yet, between denominations.  What’s a Christian seeking unity to do?

Paul happens to offer some very practical advice in Ephesians 4.  If you’ll allow me, I’d suggest the keys to allowing the Spirit to bring unity are:

1.  Individuals should live as followers of Christ ought to:

• Be humble, gentle, and patient.
• Have a soft heart.  Be open to hearing from your brothers and sisters.
• Don’t follow your sinful and selfish desires (especially lying, anger, greed, and sexual impurity).
• Be honest, work hard, and share.
• Give yourself for others.
• Imitate God.

2.  Within the body, we should love one another.  This means:

• Play the role assigned you by God.  Your gift is needed to bring maturity (and unity) to the church.
• Speak the truth to one another — but always in love.
• Forgive one another.  [And I don’t see any exceptions.]
• Be a people of compassion and kindness.  Only speak what is beneficial.
• Share with one another.  Your things are not your own.

Some won’t like that I’ve written as if knowledge always stands in conflict with the above behaviors.  They want it to be both/and –not either/or.  And they’re right to desire such; I’m there with them.  Knowledge does not always stand in opposition to love and obedience.  Godly knowledge never does.  And this knowledge from God is desperately needed for us to reach unity.  Paul indeed says as much in Ephesians 4.  

My argument today, though, is simply that our knowledge is too often not a Godly knowledge — despite the fact that we come to it by means of Bible study.  I learn from Paul (in Ephesians 4) that if ours is a knowledge which does not build the church up to maturity AND together in unity, then it is not a Godly knowledge.  It is the knowledge of man — counted as trickery, deceitful scheming, and mere winds of doctrine.

I don’t wish us to do away with knowledge.  But no amount of Bible study alone is going to make us into the people Paul describes in Ephesians 4.  Nope, that will take 1) the Holy Spirit at work in us and 2) our willingness to be obedient to the teachings of Jesus.  Too often this is an unpopular answer.  But it’s the right one.

Spiritual potty-training.  That’s what we need.

looking forward — top 10 posts of 2011

Don’t Look Back — It’d Be Immature of You

Now, I can’t control what every other blogger in the world is doing (oh, if only I could…).  I can, however, tell you what they’re all up to these days.  And that is: reviewing their top 10 blog posts of 2010.  I’m not going to suggest this is a fruitless endeavor, or that I’m above such.  But it is backward-thinking at best, and resting on one’s laurels at worst.  And here at aliens and strangers, we want to be about the future — not the past. Yep, no laurels for us (literally, there are no laurels on which for us to rest).  After all, Paul did say…

There’s one thing that I do:  I forget what’s in my past and I comtemplate what’s ahead…  Anyone who’s mature should do the same. — Philippians 3:13-15 (taken completely out of context and summarized by me)

And we all want to be mature, right?  So I’m not going to do this “Top 10 Posts of 2010″ thing.  Instead, I’m going to offer you up my top 10 posts of 2011.  Seriously.  [I can't link to them yet, of course, as they've not yet been written.  But still... here they are.]

Top 10 Posts of 2011 — aliens and strangers

1.  auburn wins the national championship

Yep, this one will be posted tomorrow.

2.  10 steps to a successful blog

This will be a satire piece.  I may not know successful blogging — but I do know satire.

3.  i left my wallet in el segundo

Music I remember from my childhood, and how it helped me become the man I am today.

4.  10 things i have to do on furlough

Christie and I will return to the states in August of this year for about three months.  Our (my) goals are to visit family and friends (many have not met Baylor), encourage and be encouraged by our sponsoring churches, participate in a few great opportunities for continuing education, and accomplish these ten things.

5. 10 mistakes i’m afraid we’ll make on furlough

Lots of things can go wrong during a 3-month visit in the U.S.  Ranging from the occasional embarrassing cultural faux pas to legitimate and problematic blunders, this post will be a top 10 list of my biggest fears.

6. a post / series on discipleship which doesn’t yet have a title

This series is currently being written by John King, one of my mentors and shepherds at Stones River Church (our sending congregation).  He is a gifted teacher, and I think of him as my own personal expert on discipleship.  Soon he’ll be yours.

7.  why i am a member of the church of Christ

From a page out of Dr. Leroy Brownlow’s (in)famous book, in this post I’ll explain a bit about the church of Christ, my own religious heritage, what I appreciate most about it, and why I’m a member of this “movement.”

8.  an ode to bacon

This is SO self-explanatory.

9.  silly abbot, pixar’s for kids

I have no idea what this post is going to be about.  I just really liked it as a title.

10. ??????????

This is where I need your help.  Please feel free — encouraged even — to give me ideas for blog posts (you’d like to read) in the comments section below.  I’m happy to accept suggestions for subject matter or even just possible titles of posts.  If you’d like to read more Bible study material or poetry or short stories or top 10 lists — or if you just want me to shut up and leave the whole blog idea alone — let me know.  I’d also be delighted to hear what you think has and hasn’t worked on aliens and strangers.

Which of these posts are you most looking forward to in 2011?  And what’s your idea for post #10?

it’s a question of church maturity

Let me run something by you.  I haven’t given this a great deal of thought.  Hardly any, actually.  But I’m going to throw it out there anyway — as rough, unfinished, and possibly wrong as it may be.

Background:

There’s a lot of discussion these days about spiritual maturity in our churches.  Some large congregations are being referred to as far-reaching, yet shallow.  Small churches are sometimes said to be unconcerned with the lost and how to reach them, demonstrating their own immaturity.  And it seems there have been a billion criteria suggested by which we should gauge a church’s maturity.  [I wrote the other day about biblically measuring kingdom growth, but I see that as different from the maturity of a single congregation.] How’s this for a thought?

Can we effectively gauge a church’s maturity by asking this simple question:

Who is doing most of the work, and is it being done in love?

What do you think?  And I don’t mind being wrong.  I mind incredibly being told I’m wrong, but — just kidding.  Your thoughts?