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Love
Will Keep Us Together
When
Philip Sidney began his epic sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella
with the lines, “Loving in truth, and fain in verse that love to
show,” he was only saying what everyone who loves has felt before:
the frustration of putting his deepest feelings into words. And
it is all the more difficult when you fear the love is slipping
away, when (as in Sidney’s case) the object of your entreaties has
no wish to hear them. Still, I love in truth, and will struggle
in what I am about to write to make it show.
Multiplication
and division
The
problem with the church is that we complain about multiplication
while we plot division. I get the impression sometimes that people
are simply looking for excuses over which to divide, no matter how
far from Christian faith they happen to be. The absurdity of this
mindset is summed up in the complaint, “The church isn’t growing,
so I’m going to leave!” The statement betrays more about the real
concerns of the complainant than it does about the church. They
wouldn’t quit their jobs over something like this, but they’ll leave
the church. But then, they get something out of their jobs.
But
sadly, this is the age we live in. The church is not a place where
we worship God. It’s a place where our ‘needs’ are met. The rallying
cry of the masses seems to be: “Though none go with me, still…well,
if none go with me, then I’m not going either!” Wait a minute….
Did I say our problem was talking multiplication and plotting division?
I’m sorry, but that’s too coy. The fact is, we’re shameless.
Fortunately,
there is an answer: the bitter pill of love.
Lovin’
fundamentalists!
It’s
bitter because we like fightin’. And if we can’t get the
real enemy into the pews, then we’ll just have to lay into our fellow
believers and teach them a thing or two. The people who ask
you what you really believe and the ones who complain to everyone
else about you are never the same folks. Sadly, we only take an
interest in doctrine if it gives us an opportunity to divide.
But
love is the one doctrine over which it is impossible to divide.
Try it sometime and you’ll see what I mean. No one yet from the
foundation of the church has abandoned the fellowship of believers
out of love. They have found their excuses, sure enough, and sometimes
called them holy, but in doing so have given the lie to Christ’s
words: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if
ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).
Notice
He didn’t say, if ye talk about love, or even if ye complain
about other people’s lack of love, which is what I’m trying
hard not to do. Notice also that He did not say, if ye dress
differently, if ye have a high view of sovereignty, or
even if ye say ye instead of you. These things pale in comparison
to the expectation that we will love one another.
The
love Christ expects from us is so visible, so impossible to hide
that it sets us apart from the world better than any dress code,
doctrine or vocabulary ever could. Imagine walking into a room of
unbelievers and sparking the reaction, “Hey, there’s something different
about him! He just radiates love… Oh, and his nose isn’t pierced,
either.” Who knows? They might even be willing to trade in their
nose-rings for what you’ve got.
Different
views, one mind
Paul
entreats the believers of his day over and over again to “be of
one mind.” He preaches unity among believers, and when he contemplates
division, it is always from sinning brothers for the purpose of
discipline, never over differences of opinion for the purposes of
satisfying vanity. We long ago stopped taking our responsibility
to be united seriously.
I
myself am guilty. When people ask me, “Why are there so many different
denominations?” I usually respond, “Look at the New Testament church—they
had some issues, too.” And they did, but they didn’t seek to solve
them the way we do, by dividing. Here is an exegetical project for
you: take a look at the first and second epistles to the church
at Corinth. Through much careful study you will find that both letters
are addressed to the same church. No big deal, right? Wrong.
If Paul had been writing to us the first time around, there would
have been two Corinthian churches by the time the second letter
arrived. And it wouldn’t have taken such egregious sin to bring
it about, either.
Today,
we’ll divide over anything. You disagree with me over the order
of service? Let’s divide. You’re singing that kind of song?
Let’s divide. You’d teach my class differently than I do? By all
means, let’s divide. The leading factor in church planting and growth
in the twenty-first century is not evangelism; it’s division among
believers. We don’t share the gospel so much as we argue over it.
Is it any wonder no one knows we are His disciples? We have a strange
way of showing our love.
Separation
or aberration?
When
Paul admonishes the Corinthians to “come out from among them, and
be ye separate,” he isn’t sending you a special message to separate
from the people you don’t like at church. He does have something
to say about those people, but I’m warning you, you aren’t going
to like it. You have to love them.
Remember,
there is no virtue in loving people who agree with you. It goes
without saying that you’ll get along with them. We show our love,
or lack of it, when we run into believers who rub us the wrong way.
It is when we are at odds with one another that our love should
be most apparent, signaling that in the fellowship of God’s forgiveness,
our differences, as important as they may seem or be, are forgotten.
But
surely there are circumstances when we have to part ways and dissolve
fellowship? Perhaps there are. Find them somewhere in the Bible
and share them with me. You’ll discover that Christ doesn’t expect
us to run from trouble in the body; He expects us to fix it.
Within
diversity, unity
I
said at the beginning I was going to be loving, and you’re probably
wondering what happened to that pledge. All I can say is, sometimes
a rebuke demonstrates love where kindness would show indifference.
Paul doesn’t smile at the Corinthians and suggest that they try
and do better; he shakes them by the shoulders and says these
things ought not to be!
In
hermeneutics, we say that Scripture is united, but it displays diversity
within its unity. God reveals Himself over time, inspiring various
human authors, using a variety of literary genres like history,
prophecy and poetry. Still, the effect is a united whole because
it springs from the same Mind and testifies to the same Purpose.
The church is the same. As the body of Christ, its members are varied.
We are imperfect people in the grip of God’s grace, slowly being
conformed to His image. We must forgive one another, bear with one
another’s faults, and pray that our honest differences of opinion
will not prevent us from being of one mind. And we must never turn
our backs on one another. That is the obligation of love, and in
this we mirror the unconditional love of our Father.
Don’t
love me for ‘who I am,’ only love me for whose I am. And in looking
beyond my faults to His forgiveness, you bring glory and honor to
God.
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