THE UNITY THAT DIVIDES

#1 · January 23, 2006, 9:08 am

Quote from Forum Archives on January 23, 2006, 9:08 am
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
THE UNITY THAT DIVIDES

January 8, 2006

Text: Matthew 10:32-42

The third Sunday of January has typically been designated Christian Unity Sunday. My understanding is that this became a tradition in the Episcopal Church in America almost a hundred years ago. Since then, it has grown in size and scope. There is much to commend unity among believers of the Christian faith. After all, Jesus himself prayed for unity among believers in John 17:22-23. 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. Indeed, thats a very significant commendation from our Master himself. Likewise, Christs disciple Paul issued calls for unity. Turn to Romans15:5-6. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With such impressive endorsements for unity, why would any preacher in his right mind draw from a text that speaks of disunity? I really dont need an answer to that. Unity, while certainly something Christians should strive for, is not to come at the cost of diminishing the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. That is exactly where the problem and the difficulty has arisen. It has become all too easy for a sector of Christianity to develop doctrines that defy Biblical moral and ethical teachings and then accuse other Christians who refute those doctrines of being mean-spirited, closed-minded, and uncaring. Christian doctrines of morality and ethics, which are derived directly from Scripture and have been accepted and practiced for centuries, are being twisted and denied by theological liberals. When these new doctrines, false teachings in reality, are challenged, the challengers are accused of breaking the unity taught in the Bible. Sad.

Matthew writes these words of Jesus: Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a mans enemies will be the members of his own household. Now, I dont want to make Jesus words here out to mean more than they are intended, but does this sound like a Jesus who calls us to unity at any price? It does not sound like it to me. Right here, and mind you that he is on the verge of sending the disciples to the lost sheep of Israel, Jesus is very much aware and very much acknowledges that word of the Messiah will bring disunity. His disciples were supposed to be prepared for it.

Now do not misunderstand me. Jesus makes it very clear that Christians are to seek unity with other Christians. Jesus makes it very clear that his followers are to be peacemakers in a radical way. But in no way are Christians to give up the Biblical moral and ethical demands in order to achieve unity and peace. Jesus wanted his disciples to be aware of this, and he wants us to be aware of this. Continuing on with verse 37, Jesus says, Anyone who loves his father and mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Thank God that we are not often faced with those toughest of choices. Gods love extends to all of our family members, and we are able to continue to be compassionate to members of our families and other loved ones. We dont usually have to break off relationships in order to love Christ. But this does not mean that we place worldly relationships, no matter how significant they are, above our relationship with Jesus. What it does mean is that if we are forced into a situation where a choice has to be made between a relationship with Christ and a relationship with another person, then the relationship with Christ takes primacy over the worldly relationship, even if it causes disunity. This can be a very lonely trail. But, whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

When we accept Gods merciful invitation to be freed from the consequences of our sins by believing in the Lord, Jesus Christ, we make a conscientious decision to be his disciple. We make a conscientious decision to obey his commands. We are to hear and heed the same words he spoke to his disciples centuries ago, anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Even though the ones gathered around Jesus at that moment would not understand the complete impact of this instruction until Jesus mission was completed, they still knew what it meant to take up a cross. Bible scholar Dr. William Barclay teaches that people in Galilee well knew what a cross was. When the Roman general, Varus, had broken the revolt of Judas of Galilee, he crucified two thousand Jews, and placed the crosses by the wayside along the roads to Galilee. In the ancient days the criminal did actually carry the crossbeam of his cross to the place of crucifixion, and the men to whom Jesus spoke had seen people staggering under the weight of their crosses and dying in agony upon them. (William Barclay, Matthew, The Barclay Daily Bible Study Series - New Testament, Westminster John Knox Press, Ligouri Faithware electronic edition, 1996) With such a vivid, and even gruesome, illustration, Jesus made it clear that achieving unity and peace at any cost was not his primary mission, and neither was it the primary mission of his disciples.

This evening, members of the churches throughout South Miami County will meet for our unity service. Pastors living and serving in South Miami County meet regularly for fellowship, mutual support, and prayer. We do this because we believe that we are called to a unity in Christ. Each of us can express certain disagreements over some Biblical interpretation and application, but we remain united because we are in Christ. We believe in Jesus as our Savior, and we believe that the Bible is the Word of God from where we derive our commands for living a right relationship with God. Not only do we believe this; we teach and preach it. Our unity is found only through our submission to Christ. This is why we can gather in a time of community worship and fellowship and even communion.

Sadly, there are some in our denomination and other faith groups who claim a relationship with Christ, but then turn around and openly defy the testimony and authority of Scripture. And these are frequently the very ones who clamor the loudest about how obedient believers are causing disunity and grieving the Spirit. In spite of the spirit of unity that Paul prayed for, he also recognized that unity was not to come at the sacrifice of correct doctrine and practice. Turn to 1 Timothy 1:3-7, where we find his acknowledgement that not everything spoken about God was proper or correct. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than Gods work - which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

Unfortunately, the Apostle Paul could be writing this about several churches throughout North America and Europe today. There are churches that deny the deity of Jesus and the bodily resurrection. There are even some who just about deny the actual reality of Jesus. There are some who speak of other religions as completely equal and equivalent to Christianity with respect to salvation. There are some who teach that the homosexual lifestyle is Biblically acceptable. There are those who work hard to reject large portions of Scripture as being inaccurate and even false. And these are some of the people, friends, who yell the loudest about the evils of disunity when they are confronted about their false doctrines. The source of disunity is their break with Gods Word, not those who use the Word to demonstrate their errors.

This is why I was drawn to Jesus predictions and warnings in Matthew 10 on this Christian Unity Sunday. I want us all to pay careful attention to what Christian unity and peace really mean according to Jesus, and not according to the human errors of misinterpretation and misapplication. Ironically, some of the most persistent and consistent opposition to the false doctrines appearing in American and European churches is coming from lands that we have always considered mission fields. When the Episcopalian Church in America ordained a Bishop who is a practicing homosexual, the Episcopalian, or Anglican, Churches in Africa and Asia and other parts of the world registered their disapproval and are still protesting that wrong decision. Its not out of the realm of possibility that we might be seeing missionaries commissioned from Africa and Asia and Latin America coming to Europe and the United States in order to evangelize and bring Christian witness! I can easily feel a closer sense of honest unity with my overseas brothers and sisters in Christ than I can with some members of my own denomination!

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. Again, never take these particular teachings and instructions to his disciples out of the precise and narrow context they were delivered. Doing so creates grave errors themselves. But these words are reality and do compel us to understand Jesus mission. If he did not come to bring peace on earth, then just what did Jesus bring? More than anything else, he brought reconciliation with the Father and, through that, salvation. He brought himself as the only worthy and acceptable sacrifice for our sins. He brought unity to those who humbly believe and accept his commands even when it means division from those who disown and disobey him before men. This is the Christian unity that we celebrate today. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophets reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous mans reward. And if anyone gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.

Rev. Charles A. Layne
First Baptist Church
Bunker Hill, Indiana
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Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

January 8, 2006

Text: Matthew 10:32-42

The third Sunday of January has typically been designated Christian Unity Sunday. My understanding is that this became a tradition in the Episcopal Church in America almost a hundred years ago. Since then, it has grown in size and scope. There is much to commend unity among believers of the Christian faith. After all, Jesus himself prayed for unity among believers in John 17:22-23. 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. Indeed, thats a very significant commendation from our Master himself. Likewise, Christs disciple Paul issued calls for unity. Turn to Romans15:5-6. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With such impressive endorsements for unity, why would any preacher in his right mind draw from a text that speaks of disunity? I really dont need an answer to that. Unity, while certainly something Christians should strive for, is not to come at the cost of diminishing the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. That is exactly where the problem and the difficulty has arisen. It has become all too easy for a sector of Christianity to develop doctrines that defy Biblical moral and ethical teachings and then accuse other Christians who refute those doctrines of being mean-spirited, closed-minded, and uncaring. Christian doctrines of morality and ethics, which are derived directly from Scripture and have been accepted and practiced for centuries, are being twisted and denied by theological liberals. When these new doctrines, false teachings in reality, are challenged, the challengers are accused of breaking the unity taught in the Bible. Sad.

Matthew writes these words of Jesus: Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a mans enemies will be the members of his own household. Now, I dont want to make Jesus words here out to mean more than they are intended, but does this sound like a Jesus who calls us to unity at any price? It does not sound like it to me. Right here, and mind you that he is on the verge of sending the disciples to the lost sheep of Israel, Jesus is very much aware and very much acknowledges that word of the Messiah will bring disunity. His disciples were supposed to be prepared for it.

Now do not misunderstand me. Jesus makes it very clear that Christians are to seek unity with other Christians. Jesus makes it very clear that his followers are to be peacemakers in a radical way. But in no way are Christians to give up the Biblical moral and ethical demands in order to achieve unity and peace. Jesus wanted his disciples to be aware of this, and he wants us to be aware of this. Continuing on with verse 37, Jesus says, Anyone who loves his father and mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Thank God that we are not often faced with those toughest of choices. Gods love extends to all of our family members, and we are able to continue to be compassionate to members of our families and other loved ones. We dont usually have to break off relationships in order to love Christ. But this does not mean that we place worldly relationships, no matter how significant they are, above our relationship with Jesus. What it does mean is that if we are forced into a situation where a choice has to be made between a relationship with Christ and a relationship with another person, then the relationship with Christ takes primacy over the worldly relationship, even if it causes disunity. This can be a very lonely trail. But, whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

When we accept Gods merciful invitation to be freed from the consequences of our sins by believing in the Lord, Jesus Christ, we make a conscientious decision to be his disciple. We make a conscientious decision to obey his commands. We are to hear and heed the same words he spoke to his disciples centuries ago, anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Even though the ones gathered around Jesus at that moment would not understand the complete impact of this instruction until Jesus mission was completed, they still knew what it meant to take up a cross. Bible scholar Dr. William Barclay teaches that people in Galilee well knew what a cross was. When the Roman general, Varus, had broken the revolt of Judas of Galilee, he crucified two thousand Jews, and placed the crosses by the wayside along the roads to Galilee. In the ancient days the criminal did actually carry the crossbeam of his cross to the place of crucifixion, and the men to whom Jesus spoke had seen people staggering under the weight of their crosses and dying in agony upon them. (William Barclay, Matthew, The Barclay Daily Bible Study Series - New Testament, Westminster John Knox Press, Ligouri Faithware electronic edition, 1996) With such a vivid, and even gruesome, illustration, Jesus made it clear that achieving unity and peace at any cost was not his primary mission, and neither was it the primary mission of his disciples.

This evening, members of the churches throughout South Miami County will meet for our unity service. Pastors living and serving in South Miami County meet regularly for fellowship, mutual support, and prayer. We do this because we believe that we are called to a unity in Christ. Each of us can express certain disagreements over some Biblical interpretation and application, but we remain united because we are in Christ. We believe in Jesus as our Savior, and we believe that the Bible is the Word of God from where we derive our commands for living a right relationship with God. Not only do we believe this; we teach and preach it. Our unity is found only through our submission to Christ. This is why we can gather in a time of community worship and fellowship and even communion.

Sadly, there are some in our denomination and other faith groups who claim a relationship with Christ, but then turn around and openly defy the testimony and authority of Scripture. And these are frequently the very ones who clamor the loudest about how obedient believers are causing disunity and grieving the Spirit. In spite of the spirit of unity that Paul prayed for, he also recognized that unity was not to come at the sacrifice of correct doctrine and practice. Turn to 1 Timothy 1:3-7, where we find his acknowledgement that not everything spoken about God was proper or correct. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than Gods work - which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

Unfortunately, the Apostle Paul could be writing this about several churches throughout North America and Europe today. There are churches that deny the deity of Jesus and the bodily resurrection. There are even some who just about deny the actual reality of Jesus. There are some who speak of other religions as completely equal and equivalent to Christianity with respect to salvation. There are some who teach that the homosexual lifestyle is Biblically acceptable. There are those who work hard to reject large portions of Scripture as being inaccurate and even false. And these are some of the people, friends, who yell the loudest about the evils of disunity when they are confronted about their false doctrines. The source of disunity is their break with Gods Word, not those who use the Word to demonstrate their errors.

This is why I was drawn to Jesus predictions and warnings in Matthew 10 on this Christian Unity Sunday. I want us all to pay careful attention to what Christian unity and peace really mean according to Jesus, and not according to the human errors of misinterpretation and misapplication. Ironically, some of the most persistent and consistent opposition to the false doctrines appearing in American and European churches is coming from lands that we have always considered mission fields. When the Episcopalian Church in America ordained a Bishop who is a practicing homosexual, the Episcopalian, or Anglican, Churches in Africa and Asia and other parts of the world registered their disapproval and are still protesting that wrong decision. Its not out of the realm of possibility that we might be seeing missionaries commissioned from Africa and Asia and Latin America coming to Europe and the United States in order to evangelize and bring Christian witness! I can easily feel a closer sense of honest unity with my overseas brothers and sisters in Christ than I can with some members of my own denomination!

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. Again, never take these particular teachings and instructions to his disciples out of the precise and narrow context they were delivered. Doing so creates grave errors themselves. But these words are reality and do compel us to understand Jesus mission. If he did not come to bring peace on earth, then just what did Jesus bring? More than anything else, he brought reconciliation with the Father and, through that, salvation. He brought himself as the only worthy and acceptable sacrifice for our sins. He brought unity to those who humbly believe and accept his commands even when it means division from those who disown and disobey him before men. This is the Christian unity that we celebrate today. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophets reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous mans reward. And if anyone gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.

Rev. Charles A. Layne
First Baptist Church
Bunker Hill, Indiana

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