Peter Sammons explores the question of true – and false – unity amongst those who call themselves Christians. A three part article. PART 1…..
Unity – what it means
Jesus said quite clearly that one of the clear “marks” that His followers ARE His followers is that we love one another. John 13:34-5:
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
This is the only ‘new’ command Jesus gave. All other commands are already encapsulated in The Law and in its summary, the ten commandments. Jesus was specific that He had not come to undermine the Law. Matthew 5:18:
Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Notice what Jesus said; until this earth ends, the Law will stand. When He said “until everything is accomplished” He did not mean until He died on the Cross. He meant until the parousia, the fulfillment of all things and His eternal reign. These things have not yet happened and so we need to understand that the Law remains. In a sense, that is the bad news. But the good news is that Jesus has fulfilled the Law on your behalf. On that basis it no longer holds any grip on you, or terror for you. That, in turn, does not mean that we despise the Law. Far from it! We recongise the Law for what it is and always will be, until everything is accomplished. It shows us God’s high and absolute standard. Although no longer subject to the Law, we respect it for what it is and says.
In giving this new command, Jesus was confirming His deity. We should see His command in this way; only God can give eternal commands. Far from undermining, or subtracting from, what God the Father has said, God the Son adds just one new command. And it is aimed squarely at His followers (disciples) whom we might call “Christians”. We must love one another.
Let’s focus on this word ‘love’. Truly no word has been more over-used, and abused, than that wonderful but slippery English word. In the English language it can mean anything from foolish emotion, to noble emotion, to having sex! People ‘love’ their political party, their football club, their favourite cheese and their hamster. In the Bible the word is not as prominent as many believe, as this short study helps us to see: https://christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/BibleStudent/25_LOVE.pdf . Whenever we encounter that slippery English word ‘love’, it can be really helpful to substitute the New Testament word agape or its Old Testament equivalent, hesed.
Did God ‘love’ the world, or did God agape the world? And what is the difference? If I may respectfully suggest, it is for you to find out!
Did Jesus say we should ‘love’ one another, or did He say we should agape one another? Again I shall leave it to you to find out the answer.
Lord
Jesus was crystal clear that not all those who call Him “Lord” are His followers (Matthew 7:21). We need to understand that some masquerade as “Christians” and we have to be realistic about that. Others believe they are Christians, yet are tragically mistaken. Jesus spoke His parable of the ten maidens – five of whom were ready for Him, but five of whom were unready and were locked out (permanently) from the wedding feast. Both groups thought they were ready, yet ultimately those who were ready refused help and support to those who were not. You may say, ‘how unfriendly’ or ‘how unforgiving’ or even ‘how un-Christian’! But we simply have His parable as the Lord gave it. Incidentally, just a few minutes thought will help to clarify why the five who were ready were unwilling to dilute their readiness in order to help those who – frankly – could not be bothered.
Matthew 7:23 contains possibly the most chilling words in the entire Bible. First read the verse. Then read the portion – Matthew 7: 15-23. Then read it in the context of the whole of chapter 7 of Matthew, but especially verses 13-14 and the following 15-23. Our Lord is saying something hugely important here, so please get to grips with it.
The “Churches Together” movement seeks to create unity between “Churches” and between “Christians”. Both words “Churches” and “Christians” deserve deeper explanation and exploration but this short article is not the place to do it. But did Jesus encourage “unity” and if so, what does “unity” mean?
As we have seen Jesus commanded us to agape one another and that through this, people will know that we are His followers. Is agape about “unity”? That is a moot point, but we will let it pass, for now! Agape is to reach-in to the situation of our brethren (I choose my words advisedly here!) and to meet them at their points of need, be it a spiritual need or a physical need. Perhaps the obvious practical outworking of this is suggested by Acts 11:30 (see Acts 27-30).
Churches Together?
I do find it interesting that so many ‘Christians’ will be happy to attend a Churches Together meeting, but will never darken the door of a “Pray for the Suffering Church “ meeting. But what did Jesus say?
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40).
Attitudes to the suffering brother or sister, and the willingness (or unwillingness) to intercede for them and to work for them, is almost certainly a litmus test as to where people TRULY stand before the Lord. And what will some ‘Christians’ say in response to Jesus? “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” (Matthew 25:44). Their question is incredulous! It is defiant! It is grossly unworthy of our Lord – and yet they say it. Read verses 44-8. But ideally just read the whole of Matthew chapter 25; it is hugely, hugely, important!
(I’m continually surprised at the lack of knowledge (lack of care?) of rather too many ‘church folk’ to the plight of their suffering brethren. It is almost as if our persecuted brethren are an embarrassment – if not a downright inconvenience. We hear of good folk trying to set up suffering church prayer initiatives within their local ‘churches together’ connections, with too often absolutely zero response. “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?”). If you do not understand persecution in the Christian context, then this resource will be of help: https://christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/BibleStudent/46_FINAL%20PERSECUTION.pdf
Peter Sammons is commissioning editor at Christian Publications International. Relevant to this article his books “The Empty Promise of Godism” (2009), “Rebel Church” (2013) and “The Prince of Peace” (2015) are freely downloadable:
https://christian-publications-int.com/default-65.html?ID=78
https://christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/RebelChurch.pdf
https://christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/PRINCE_20141110_FINAL.pdf
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