Christian Unity

Act 10:9-16
About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

Act 10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

To Peter, it seemed impossible, unimaginable. Inconceivable! Would God accept uncircumcised Gentiles in to the church of Christ– men who did not follow the law of Moses? But it was evidently so. The Holy Spirit came upon these men in a startling way–not as a result of baptism (Acts 2:38) nor as a result of an apostle laying on hands (Acts 8:17-18) but spontaneously and unexpectedly, with no human intervention (as in Acts 2:2-4). It was just like at the beginning (Acts 11:15). Here, as on Pentecost, God was providing a sign endorsing the proceedings. In Acts 2, the sign demonstrated that the gospel message spoken by the apostles was from God. In Acts 10, the sign demonstrated that the gospel message was not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. In both cases, the sign enabled the Jews who were present to overcome their preconceived ideas so they could understand something that was totally new and unimaginable to their Jewish minds.

Like the Jews, we have preconceived ideas about who can be saved. And like the Jews, our ideas are often inaccurate. We tend to think that only people like ourselves can be saved. Especially, we think that only people who believe exactly as we do can be saved. Restoration Movement Christians have a long history of excluding people over issues like instrumental music, missionary societies, communion cups, the practice (or lack) of pre-baptism “counting the cost”, existence or absence of discipling relationships, or even the name on the sign outside the church building.

None of those issues is made a condition of salvation in scripture. There may be biblical truth on one side or the other of each issue. Some may be matters of indifference to God. But regardless, we are not authorized by scripture to draw lines of fellowship over such disagreements. On the contrary, we are prohibited from doing so:

Rom 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

I do not think God appreciates it when we reject those whom he has accepted. We must not call anything impure which God has made clean.

Thanks to pinakidion for pointing out a new effort towards unity in the Restoration Movement. The new site is called Connect 4 Change. The stated goal of the site is:

Connect4Change.net is devoted to providing a place on the Internet especially for Christians from different wings of the Restoration Movement to develop relationships, understanding and trust in order to help each other change and more effectively fulfill the ministry given us by Jesus.

The site founders are soliciting personal profiles from people in various segments of the Restoration Movement, as well as articles on topics such as various church cultures, stories of growth and victory, and other articles examining topics relevant to the Restoration Movement. I encourage folks to visit their site and contribute to the conversation.

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! — Ronald Reagan, Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin, Germany, June 12, 1987

For twenty-six years, the Berlin wall had stood as a symbol of the Cold War. The wall separated people from their immediate families, from their jobs, from their homes. The personal tradgedy and loss was immeasurable. While there were numerous successful escapes across the wall over the years, there were also tragedies as nearly 200 people were killed trying to cross.

On June 12, 1987, in the defining moment of his presidency, Ronald Reagan issued an historic challenge to the Soviet leader to tear that wall down. Finally, on November 9, 1989, the East German government announced that people would be permitted to pass freely between east and west. What followed was a scene of euphoria, of tearful reuninons, a mass celebration unequaled in our times. Weeks of ecstatic celebration were broadcast on television news around the world. It was indeed a great time as the entire world shared in the joy of these events.

The churches of Christ have their own “Berlin walls.” These walls are not made of concrete, steel, and barbed wire. They are not defended with machine guns, but they are tenaciously defended nonetheless. Like that other wall, these walls represent faulty ideology. These walls divide families. They are monuments to sin and folly, and they stand in the way of the mission of the church toward the world. Those walls need to come down.

Those whom God has adopted as children (Gal 3:26-27) should not be divided over sincere differences of opinion on lesser matters. Differing opinions are inevitable among fallible humans. God made us, and He knows what we are made of. God has made it abundantly clear what are the essential elements for unity (1 Cor 15:1-11, Eph 4:1-6). We have no right to erect walls of division over other issues.

What euphoria, what celebration will be seen among the children of God when these walls come down! What joyful reunions! What a great news story for the world, as the Lord’s prayer for unity finally comes to fulfilment in the church! What a great day for belief and conversion that will be!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you seek to do the will of God, if you seek to win the world for Christ, if you seek to show the love of Christ to those who, like yourselves, have been saved by grace, then come here to this gate. Brothers and sisters, for the sake of our Lord and his church, open the gate! Brothers and sisters, tear down those walls!

My wife and I have been travelling in Virginia and Maryland for the past few days. It was good to have dinner with my newly married daughter and son-in-law, and to visit the midweek service at the Mongomery County Church of Christ in the Baltimore area, where they will be members. We also took an opportunity to visit the Sunday services of the Timberville Church of Christ in the north Virginia mountains, about forty minutes from the condo where we were staying. Those were two very different groups culturally, but with all of the most important things in common. We had a delightful time with both congregations.

My online activities have been curtailed for the past week as a result of my travel. I hope to get some time this weekend to catch up.