So, You Want Unity?

In Ephesians 4, Paul states that we should walk worthy, keep the unity of the Spirit, and then later adds that eventually we are to all come into a unity of the faith, and knowledge, of the son of God. If you wish, please look up and read all of Ephesians 4 for yourself to get the complete context so that I don't give you the wrong impression. Unity in our church is good, a division in our church is bad, we seem to all agree, but, who is being divisive here? To parse that out, let's examine the history of the church a little, shall we? 

Church Period 1: 

Jesus has ascended. The disciples receive the Holy Spirit and morph into hardcore radical apostles, spreading the gospel of the Kingdom in its totality throughout the empire. This teaching involves the concept of 2-Kingdoms. God's Kingdom is a spiritual reality with the church being a physical representation of it. The world's Kingdom is ordained by God to keep the peace in a world where most people don't act like they belong to God's Kingdom. The church has huge problems these days, but, there is 1 church, a church that believes they are separated unto God. A church that believes all of the apostles' teachings, and Jesus' teachings are to be taken seriously. 

Church Period 2:

This one church loses something, perhaps from being persecution weary, or something else, and probably a combination of things, but it becomes susceptible. Constantine offers the church religious freedom and professes to be a Christian himself. The church loses its 2 Kingdom message, and morphs into partnership with the world, the crusades happen, abuses, and corruptions begin to abound. Doctrinally speaking, the church gradually morphs into what we recognize today as the catholic church. Towards the end of this time, a young German priest is struggling with the assurance of salvation. He had an abusive father growing up, a man who whipped him till he bled. He thought God was like this, a harsh being, who would whip him till he bled if he didn't repent. Yet, he couldn't control his sin, and couldn't even remember all the sins he needed to repent of. In his prayers and studies, he found that he was justified by the grace of God. (Romans 3:24) He felt tremendous relief at this and began to teach this to those around him, but he didn't have a quarrel with the church...yet. Martin Luther was his name and he was ok with just teaching this thing of grace to those around him and doing his duties as a priest... For now. 

Church Period 3: 

Now we enter the period of denominations, in which we still live in my opinion. Martin Luther has had it up to his snout with the church's ****, ****, ****, and so on. He was rather uncouth at times you see. He wasn't the only one. There was also Zwingli, the Anabaptists, like George Blaurock, and his friends. Later on, names like Calvin, Simons, Fox, and others emerged. For simplicity's sake, we can separate the church into 3 different categories now with several denominations each. 

1. The "original" church, which we call Catholic, left many of the teachings of the early church and has adopted practices like having a pope, praying to Mary, penance, etc. I don't know much about it, for I'm not catholic. 

2. The saved by faith through grace group, led by men like Luther, Zwingli, and so on. Taught us the notion that we are only saved by faith, works don't matter for we cannot stop sinning or do enough good to be saved. 

3. The radicals, led by men like Blaurock, Fox, and Simons, agreed with being saved by faith but also believe in a lifestyle that is separate from the world. An indwelling presence, the Spirit of God, that changes you and makes you a different person. 

Faults can be found in all 3 streams of thought. I believe the 1st group is wrong. The 2nd group is not teaching a complete gospel, and the 3rd group has created a religion they practice instead of simply following the gospel. I have drastically oversimplified this, but, how long do you want this blog to actually be? The hairs keep getting split finer, finer, and still finer, for now, we have Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, and 7th-day Adventists yet. I confess I don't know where to place them, but I think you get the idea. There are lots and lots of heresy to choose from today. From word faith to religious cults and any flavor in between. 

Ok, now for the point. When there is a schism in the church. A call for unity comes forth. 

Dale says, "Let's focus on Jesus, on His love for all of us. Let's focus on our agreements and not our differences. We shouldn't discuss the separation of the sheep from the goats, for since we all love Jesus, we are all sheep, and no concern needs to be given to fruit. Come as you are"  

Mark says, "There is more out there, there is a Kingdom, we should look at ALL of scripture, not just what we like. So no Dale, I can't merely go along with your favorite new theology you picked up from fill-in-the-blank heretic. I'm not looking to be religious, I merely want to believe all of scripture."  

Dale wants unity and peace in his church. He wants Mark to get along, plug in, and be happy within the bounds of whatever of the many million denominations and types of the gospel he finds himself in. Dale says he is against all the splits and denominations and wants all believers to get along like one big happy family, but interestingly Dale does not follow his own teaching to its logical conclusion, he does not return to the original denomination. Dale is not catholic. Dale believes in a unity that involves his specific situation, comfort, and place in history. If you are not agreed with him, you are probably a controlling legalist. Dale does not really believe in convictions that have to do with lifestyle. Dale believes in salvation. 

Mark wants unity and peace in his church. He wants to return to the gospel of the first period. That original gospel was taught by Jesus and His disciples. That's what Mark wants. Mark weeps for, longs for such a church, that will simply be disciples, and live the Kingdom lifestyle. It feels lonely to push for it alone. He loves Dale and wants Dale to take the journey with him, but Dale gets mad and calls him a legalist. Mark isn't sure what to do anymore...stay in the church as she is or go alone?  Mark believes in a unity that involves actually embracing, believing, and claiming the totality of Christ, His salvation, His Kingdom, and His Spirit. Mark has convictions, based on Jesus' teachings that he is not prepared to lay down. Lines exist, that Mark simply cannot cross. Mark struggles with his attitude, he finds himself getting bitter, stressed, and unhappy, and he is not really living the very life he believes in anymore. He has to repent again. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Mark resets and lives the lifestyle of the Kingdom again. 

So now, here is the question. Who is on the correct path to unity? Dale? or Mark? I could easily have portrayed Dale as a legalist instead of a hyper-grace type person, but the legalists aren't the ones pushing for unity as much. They seem quite happy to have their own little religious cliques. Dale and Mark are fictional characters, they are exaggerated to show texture, and make a point, please don't take them personally. Is unity found in the art of getting along on the things we can and ignoring the rest? Or is unity found in the simple return to the original gospel taught in the first period? I am willing to stick my neck out and admit that I agree with Mark. I believe that anyone who simply agrees and condones one of the many modern incomplete gospels, whether it be a works-based religion, or grace-based lawlessness is merely adding to the division. I believe that those who embrace the totality of the Gospel, are striving to return to unity. I repent for all the times I have caused division by just getting along and condoning. The good news is, that the original gospel is all within the New Testament, we all have it. We just don't seem to want to live it or even believe it. 

God help us...