Four The Christ-Centered Community

I preached at a vibrant church in the Northeast and found myself impressed with everything about their life together. They loved one another, and they worshiped with enthusiasm. Children, youth, young adults, adults and the elderly all gathered together as one body. I was inspired by being with them. After the event I went to the pastor’s office to gather up my things and to wait for the pastor to take me to the airport. I soon realized that an important meeting was going on, so I sat outside of his door in the waiting area. Though I did not intend to eavesdrop, the door was open, so I could hear what was going on. They spoke in hushed tones, so I knew it was a serious matter.

“We know we must leave the denomination,” the pastor said, “because we disagree on a fundamental issue. And we know the church supports the separation—the vote was 92 percent in favor of separating and joining a new denomination. The only question is, who owns the building?”

“Right. That is the problem. Technically, our current denomination owns the property. If we split, we will have to move out,” a man said. “Our lawyers think we can fight it in court, but we could lose and spend a lot of money trying. The general consensus is that we need to fight it, though. The people feel like it is their church. They paid for it, they built it, they were baptized here and married here, and they buried their loved ones here.”

The meeting lasted for about fifteen minutes, and then they tabled the discussion for a later time. The pastor came out of his office and said, “Sorry, Jim. It was an urgent meeting. Are you ready to go to the airport?” I told him I was. While driving on the freeway I could tell he was still deep in thought about the meeting he had just had. He asked, “Did you overhear our discussion?”

“Yes,” I said. “I was not trying to . . .”

“No, I am glad you did. I was wondering what you think. Do you think we should fight to keep our building?” he asked.

“Do you really want to know what I think? You may not like it,” I said.

“Please tell me. I won’t be offended.”

“Well, I don’t think you should fight it,” I said. “In fact, I don’t think you should split from the denomination.”

“Jim, are you serious? How can we stay? The church has gotten too liberal. We can’t stay tied to a group that believes what they affirm,” he said with a little anger in his voice.

“Has the denomination denied the deity of Jesus, the reality of the resurrection or the triune God?” I asked.

“No. But they are affirming principles that are not backed by the Bible. In fact, they are denying the authority of the Bible.”

“Have they made that statement: ‘We reject the authority of the Bible’?” I asked.

“No. But by holding their position—which is against the Bible’s teaching—they are in fact rejecting it.”

“Rejecting the Bible or rejecting your understanding of what the Bible teaches?” I asked again.

“Jim, I thought you were a conservative Christian. You preach about Jesus, and you preach from the Bible.”

“I am not a liberal or a conservative. I am an apprentice of Jesus. I am simply trying to discern that which is essential and that which is nonessential. For me, the basic teaching found in the creeds is essential. Everything else is nonessential. Not unimportant, just not important enough for me to divide from those who share the same belief in the essentials. I actually agree with your church’s position on this issue, but I would not divide over it, because it is a nonessential to me.”

“Well, that is a fair point. I guess I and the majority in our church believe that this issue is an essential,” he said. “That is why we must split.”

I told him I appreciated his heart and his desire to be faithful to God. I dearly love this pastor and his people. They made a choice to split, a choice I did not affirm but understood and accepted. I stand in unity with them. Though I disagree with their choice to split, they are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and in my eyes we are one. They still believe in the same essentials as I do, and that is our unity. We disagree over what I believe is a nonessential, and for that reason I offer them charity.

Thus far I have focused mainly on the divisions in the church that come from disagreement about doctrine. I want to return to Paul’s admonition in Colossians 3 to take a closer look at three other causes of separation in the church: race, gender and class. In the following verses Paul mentions these differences specifically:

Notice the word here in Colossians 3:11. Where is the “here”? It is in the church. The ecclesia is a peculiar community rooted in another world—the kingdom of heaven. When the community gathers in the name of Jesus, they step out of this world and its natural divisions, and they become a united people.

How are we united? Both verses are clear: in Christ. Christ is in everyone, changing our fundamental identity. We are people in whom Christ dwells. This fact does not eradicate our differences. Men are still men and women are still women; the body of Christ does not comprise an androgynous people. Those who are Greek and those who are Jews remain Greeks and Jews by ethnicity. And those who were slaves are still slaves when they step outside of the community. Paul is saying that here, in the gathered community, we are one in Christ.

The solution to gender, race and social divisions is not to eradicate our differences but to see them in light of Jesus. The Pentecostal move-ment in the United States in the early twentieth century was astonish-ingly diverse. Blacks, whites and Latinos worshiped together, and women played an important role in ministry. They were fond of saying that the “color line was washed away in the blood of Jesus.” This was because they saw their unity in the Spirit. Males and females, whites and blacks, rich and poor—all were conduits for the same Spirit. Equality was discovered not by disregarding differences but by finding the source of unity within their diversity.

The true source of our “unity in diversity” is the Trinity. The Trinity is neither black nor white nor male nor female; the divine persons are distinct and yet unified. Serene Jones writes, “God’s very reality is radically multiple, radically relational, and infinitely active.” The Father is distinct from the Son and the Spirit, and finds his identity in that difference. And yet, Father, Son and Spirit are one, mutually indwelling and mutually interdependent. That is why the church is both distinct and unified. The good and beautiful community is a mirror of the Trinity.

Distinctions in gender and race are not to be downplayed but affirmed as a part of God’s beautiful creation. Outside of the church these distinctions cause suspicion and division, and are barriers to community; inside the church they can be celebrated and affirmed. N. T. Wright observes:

I would disagree slightly with the word irrelevant because our distinctions remain and are a part of the beauty of the body of Christ. While not irrelevant, race, gender and class, to use Wesley’s phrase, are nonessentials when it comes to unity. The essential is our identity as people in whom Christ dwells. But Wright shifts the issue to the right place: these differences are indeed irrelevant to the question of love. Tolerance is not our primary aim, nor is equality; our highest aim is love. Our primary focus is on Christ as Lord. So we say, Jesus is Lord!

If your heart beats in love for Jesus, then take my hand and we will walk together in fellowship.

Richard J. Foster wrote one of the most important books on spiritual formation in the past hundred years, Celebration of Discipline. Not long after its initial success, Richard was troubled by something: individuals, not groups, were using the book in isolation, with the aim of personal spiritual growth. Richard believed that the disciplines — with their roots in the ancient church—were not meant to separate but to unite. Under the leading of the Spirit he chose to take an
eighteen-month sabbatical from writing and speaking. During that time he listened to God, and a clear message was given to him: the walls that separate our churches must come down.

In a vision like the dream given to Martin Luther King Jr.,
Foster was filled with a new hope for the church. He articulated it this way:

This vision gave birth to Renovaré, a spiritual renewal ministry for churches that Richard and others established in 1988. Great strides have occurred through this ministry and others like it. The vision is strong and powerful because, I believe, it is the vision of God for his people.

I suspect that this chapter will have challenged or even offended many readers. I have taken a bold position: we must view all who call on Jesus as our brothers and sisters regardless of doctrine or race or practice. I am aware that some of what I call nonessential will be, for others, essentials worth fighting for. I respect your position, and I pray you respect mine. I am still searching, still trying to follow the leading of the Spirit. I pray that you extend to me the same charity that I offer you, the charity to love and accept you as a member of Christ’s body, as someone who is important to me, even if we disagree. I know we agree on one thing, and it is my hope that it is strong enough to hold us all together: Jesus is Lord!

If your heart beats in love for Jesus, then take my hand and we will walk together in fellowship.

John Wesley not only gave us a helpful way to stay unified even if we disagree, but also in that same sermon he offered five ways we can show love to those with whom we differ or disagree in the nonessentials:

1. Treat them as companions.

2. Do not think or speak evil of them.

3. Pray for them.

4. Encourage them to do good.

5. Collaborate with them in ministry.

These excellent suggestions will go a long way toward helping us not only to get along but also to love fellow Christians we have differences with.

This week, think about a church or a friend or fellow Christian who belongs to a church other than yours. It may be that you know someone or a local church whose doctrines and practices are different than yours. See if you can implement some or all of Wesley’s ideas. What might this look like?

Treat them as companions. Ask the person to lunch. If it is a church you are feeling led to connect with in this way, worship with them.

Do not speak or think evil of them. Be sure to refrain from pointing out your differences, either to the person or to others. Focus on what you have in common.

Pray for them. Make that person or that church the special object of your prayers this week.

Encourage them to do good. During lunch or worship, or whenever you connect, be sure to encourage the person in the good work he or she is already doing. Ask questions and find out what the person, or the church, is doing in ministry, and be affirming.

Collaborate with them. If at all possible, see if you can work alongside the person (or church), either in something he or she is doing, or in some ministry in which you are engaged. Working alongside someone creates a bond of unity that overcomes our differences.

In addition, find time this week to pray not only for those who differ but for the body of Christ and its leaders. The following are two ways we can do this: