October 15, 2006

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

Biblical Principles of Unity

 

Introduction

a.     Every world religion, including Christianity is shamelessly divided, contrary to the will of God and the teaching of the NT.

b.     We are so accustomed to our divisions that we are no longer shocked by them. Divisions only get worse in time.

c.      1^st Century Jews: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots.

d.     Islam: has 3 major divisions; Kurds, Shias and Sunnis.

e.     Christianity: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Anglican.  According to David Barrett, in World Christian Encyclopedia, there are approx. 34,000 Christian bodies counting the many independent churches not associated with mainline ones. Counting just Protestant and Anglican churches, there are over 1000 in the USA.

f.       Buddhism: Theravada (early Buddhism), Mahayana, Zen; Buddhism grew out of Hinduism, a family of religions, with an estimated 33 million deities!

g.     Story: A lone man was shipwrecked on an island; after living there for years alone he was finally rescued.  When they were aboard and ready to leave his rescuers asked him about three buildings that the man had built on the island.  They said, We thought you were here alone.  What is that building over there?  He replied, That is where I lived.  What about the second building?  Oh, that is where I worshipped.  Well, what about that third building?  The man said, That is where I used to worship.

 

Major Biblical Texts

1.     Jesus prayer for unity. (John 17:20-21.)

2.     All that believed were together.  (Acts 2:44.)

3.     Paul admonition to the Corinthians. (1 Cor. 1:10-13.)

4.     The seven ones. (Eph. 4:1-6.)

5.     The Psalmist’s description of unity. (Psalm 133:1-3.)

6.     Paul’s advise to the Romans. (Rom. 14:1, 5, 19

7.     Six things the Lord hates; 7 are abomination. (Prov. 6:16-19.)

 

Unity in the Restoration Movement

 

See my paper for Harding Graduate School, Dr. Earl West, “The Kind of Unity the Restorers Sought,” 1991.  What follows is a brief summary.

 

The Unity Campbell Envisioned

 

Alexander Campbell presented two propositions based upon Jesus’ prayer for unity: 1) The testimony of the apostles is the only and all-sufficient means of uniting all Christians, and 2) the union of Christians with the apostles’ testimony is all-sufficient and alone sufficient to the conversion of the world. An important point was made when he further wrote, “Neither truth alone nor union alone is sufficient to subdue the unbelieving nations; but truth and union combined are omnipotent.” (Campbell, The Christian System, 86-87.) These two concepts of truth and unity continued to be discussed as the restoration movement was fully tested and challenged. At times it seemed that both could be obtained. There was a state of excitement over the progress made.

Lipscomb warned against thinking that Campbell’s idea of unity was an organic collection of divided groups. He wrote, “The great end and aim of the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, the planting of congregations of Christians, was to bring the world back into a loyal obedience to the Lord of heaven and earth. In doing this to unite in one body in Christ Jesus all who believe in him as the Savior of men, that they united together as one body under Christ, the living head, might work together for the redemption of the world from sin, and rebellion against God, and for the restoration of the rule and authority of God over the earth.” (Ibid., 18.) The scope of their vision extended to all believers in the Lord.  (David Lipscomb, Christian Unity: How Promoted, How Destroyed; Faith and Opinion, 18.)

Their Vision Not Realized

The restorers were forced from the fellowship first of the Presbyterians and then the Baptists. As they continued preaching the Apostles’ doctrine, they were looked upon as a separate sect. Thomas and Alexander were uneasy with the thought that a new sect might result from their work and the separation from the Presbyterians and Baptists. Alexander Campbell wrote, “Finally, while endeavoring to abolish the old sects, let us be cautious that we form not a new one.” (Campbell, The Christian System, 83.) He argued that Christians could maintain a separate existence and not be a sect if they stood exactly on the apostles’ ground. This separation from the fellowship of those they sought to include in the unity movement changed their perception of unity.

Monroe Hawley wrote, “Practically speaking, the restoration call for all followers of Jesus to unite did not materialize.” Then he wrote this about unity: “Unity and undenominational Christianity are not necessarily the same. Ideally they should he, but in fact you can have one without the other. . . . While Christian union is assuredly desirable, it is possible for one to be undenominational without enjoying the spiritual fellowship of others who seek to follow Christ.” (Hawley, Redigging the Wells, 38-39.)

Thus, gradually as events unfolded in their work, unity seemed more difficult to obtain. Of the two original goals (truth and union), truth will now be the main objective while seeking unity among those desiring the truth. One author called it a “temporary eclipse of the union ideal.” (Winfred E. Garrison, Christian Unity and Disciples of Christ, 97.) The Cause would be the reunion of all Christians in one Church by restoring the faith, practice, and structure of the primitive church.

 

 

Truth First; Unity Second or Not at All

W. B. F. Treat wrote, “If the worldly, unauthorized customs and practices
that are popular with innovationists and sectarians are forced into the Church, over the protests of godly men, division is not only imminent, but it may become a necessity and a virtue!” (Treat, “Can We Ever Divide?” American Christian Review, June 1879, 145.)

David Lipscomb wrote that in view of innovations being added, “Division   
and separation ought to come. God in His Providence will then bring it about.” (Lipscomb, “Union and Schism,” Gospel Advocate, 1883, 822.) J. W. McGarvey wrote, “Truth first, union afterwards, and union only in the truth. This is our motto.” (McGarvey, no title, Gospel Advocate, 1885, 7.) This motto reflects the changes over the past decades due to the separation from the Protestants and division within the Restoration Movement. Campbell began with the noble proposition that truth and union are omnipotent in converting unbelievers.

Unity as Part of Truth

One preacher lamented, “Not so many years ago we often heard sermons and read articles on unity and union.” (R. L. Whiteside, Doctrinal Discourses, 204.) He wondered why there was little said about the subject now. Perhaps the simple answer is that high hopes had been dashed by all that occurred. Since unity seemed impossible, they sought to emphasize truth. Separating the concept of unity from truth actually causes and justifies further division. The list of causes for division becomes endless and is defended as the result of “standing for the truth.”

Douglas Brown argued that unity should be seen as an essential component of what truth is rather than restricting unity to a desirable by-product of truth. When one stands for truth he should also stand for unity. Truth is in part sacrificed when unity is lightly considered and division easily accepted. The split in the Restoration Movement at the end of the nineteenth century resulted in truth and unity being pushed apart. Truth was emphasized and unity redefined. (Brown, When Past and Present Meet, 54.)

Unity Does Exist!

In C. R. Nichol’s description of Christian unity, he re-examined who should be called a Christian and the concept of unity. Referring to the early effort to unite Christians of the divided sects, he asked pointedly, “Who is a Christian?” He plainly rejected the notion that Christians existed in the denominations. Unity could exist only when one obeyed the Gospel and the Lord added the saved to His Church. Nichol concluded, “And when one becomes a Christian, he in so doing becomes one with all other Christians; hence, unity exists among Christians now, always has, and always will.” (Nichol, “Christian Unity,” Gospel Advocate, August 1941, 824.)

But clearly the language of C. R. Nichol about unity is not the same as expressed by Campbell and others. Recent voices do not include the idea of uniting with others on a large scale. They speak more about brotherhood unity and local congregational unity. It causes each group to be content with unity on a limited basis while the world still sees massive division among those who claim to follow Jesus. It ignores the very problem Campbell and others boldly tried to solve. Will we re-define the problem so that it appears solved?

Conclusions

Here then is an important principle in unity.  We must acknowledge that unity is a vital part of truth.  We cannot continue to justify our divisions. The Bible teaches that all believers in Jesus Christ should be united.