One in Christ

This morning I had the privilege of participating in a joint worship service between Minter Lane (predominantly white) and N 10th and Treadaway (predominantly black). Together we celebrated that we have been made one in Christ. And we hope that this first gathering will be the beginning of many more which might eventually result in full visible unity—because it is by our unity in love that we show the world that Jesus is God’s Son and the Creator of one new humanity. Our time together included a Bible class focused on the new covenant, which includes all peoples, a worship service, focused on the unity of the Spirit, and finally a fellowship meal. One theme passage for the morning was Ephesians 4:1-6:

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

Christ in his death and resurrection destroyed the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles (that is to say, all races), creating one new humanity. We ARE one. The church IS one united body. We have the same calling, the same Savior, the same Spirit, the same hope, the same faith, the same identity. Yet we are human and so our communities face struggles and divisions; we fail to live up to our calling. And so in 4:1-6, Paul calls us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. This is not a passive calling, but an active one, asking us not only to prevent divisions but to seek reconciliation with other believers, to demonstrate the perfect unity Christ created on the cross. We have a lot of work to do, and it is only by the spirit (humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and love) and power of the Spirit that we can be one. God help us.

Another key verse this morning was Galatians 3:26-29:

"You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, [AND WE CAN ADD: BLACK NOR WHITE] for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

The Stone-Campbell Movement began not merely as a restoration movement seeking to restore the early church, but as a unity movement hoping to gather all Christians in all denominations into one body. The founders of our movement wanted to restore the early church not for the sake of restoration only, but because they saw restoration as the foundation to unity, and unity as the key to demonstrating to the world the divinity of Christ. We strive to be unified—in our diversity—to see to it that God is glorified and others are saved, that they are drawn to Christ by his love manifested in the church.

Despite this unity-focused beginning, we have divided over and over—racially, doctrinally, etc. And, beyond the Stone-Campbell Movment, the church has divided throughout its history, from New Testament times until now. Perhaps we could all benefit by recalling Barton Stone’s emphasis on not only right doctrine but also the right spirit—that of love and mutual forbearance. Consider these words from the “Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery,” a document by which Stone and others marked the beginning of the Stone-Campbell Movement:

"Imprimis. We will, that this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large; for there is one body, and one Spirit, even as we are called in hope of our calling.
Item. We will that preachers and people cultivate a spirit of mutual forbearance; pray more and dispute less; and while they behold the signs of the times, look up, and confidently expect that redemption draweth nigh."

Elsewhere, Stone wrote:

"I blush for my fellows, who hold up the Bible as the bond of union yet make their opinions of it tests of fellowship; who plead for union of all Christians; yet refuse fellowship with such as dissent from their notions. Vain men! Their zeal is not according to knowledge, nor is their spirit that of Christ…Such anti-sectarian sectarians are doing more mischief to the cause, and advancement of truth, the unity of Christians, and the salvation of the world than all the skeptics in the world. In fact they make skeptics."

And second-generation leader David Lipscomb advised that we should be “slow to withdraw from one that sincerely desires to do the will of God.”

Before concluding this post, allow me to share some powerful words from John Stott’s commentary on Ephesians, a letter infused with the theme of unity:

"How dare we build walls of partition in the one and only human community in which [God] has destroyed them?…To perpetuate these barriers in the church, and even to tolerate them without taking any active steps to overcome them in order to demonstrate the trans-cultural unity of God’s new society, is to set ourselves against the reconciling work of Christ and even to try to undo it.” This “hinders the world from believing in Jesus. God intends his people to be a visual model of the gospel, to demonstrate before people’s eyes the good news of reconciliation. But what is the good of gospel campaigns if they do no produce gospel churches? It is simply impossible, with any shred of Christian integrity, to go on proclaiming that Jesus by his cross has abolished the old divisions and created a single new humanity of love, while at the same time we are contradicting our message by tolerating racial or social or other barriers within our church fellowship. I am not saying that a church must be perfect before it can preach the gospel, but I am saying that it cannot preach the gospel while acquiescing in its imperfections.
We need to get the failures of the church on our conscience, to feel the offence to Christ and the world which these failures are, to weep over the credibility gap between the church’s talk and the church’s walk, to repent of our readiness to excuse and even condone our failures, and to determine to do something about it. I wonder if anything is more urgent today, for the honor of Christ and for the spread of the gospel, than that the church should be, and should be seen to be what by God’s purpose and Christ’s achievement it already is—a single new humanity, a model of human community, a family of reconciled brothers and sisters who love their Father and love each other, the evident dwelling place of God by his Spirit. Only then will the world believe in Christ as peacemaker. Only then will God receive the glory due to his name (Stott 111-12)."

We must face this issue. We cannot settle for the way things are now. Christ did not settle for our separation, how can we? This is a mystery, this unity between God and us and each other, but this mystery is reality. Surely we should forget ourselves and strive to make this unity visible.

Perhaps this issue doesn’t speak to you right now, where you are in life, but it is big. It is all over the New Testament (and even the Old). You may also feel like you are in no position to help, but you are. Unity starts with each of us and our relationships with the people in our community. It should be shown on all different levels—from the universal church, to each local congregation, to every Christian home.

The Stone-Campbell Movement began with a very noble cause—a cause for which Christ himself fervently prayed (see John 17:20-23). So, as Stone called us, may unity be our polar star, to which our eyes are continually turned and our efforts directed, so that the world may believe and be saved. And as Paul prayed in Romans 15:5-6, so I pray:

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give [us] a spirit of unity among [ourselves] as [we] follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth [we] may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Amen.

[The embedded image is one I created for this morning’s joint celebration.]