It is too easy to be tempted to construct church unity on the basis of our personal, missional, or theological unity instead of the spiritual unity that we have only in and through Jesus Christ. After a considerable time of actually living out the challenges of life together, Bonhoeffer wrote Life Together
to record a theology of community. How do these words speak to you today? Do you find the temptation to construct your own unity? What breaks unity for you?
Which brings into immediate concern the failings of our brother or the failings of our sister and how those failings tax our ability to dwell in unity. Bonhoeffer's words root us in grace, they point out our feeble attempts to construct our own ground rules for unity, and they reveal that genuine unity is something that we receive and something in which we live by faith:
"Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the common life, is not the one who sins still a person with whom I too stand under the word of Christ? Will not another Christian's sin be an occasion for me ever anew to give thanks that both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ? Therefore, will not the very moment of great disillusionment with my brother or sister be incomparably wholesome for me because it so thoroughly teaches me that both of us can never live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and deed that really binds us together, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ? The bright day of Christian community dawns wherever the early morning mists of dreamy visions are lifting" (36-37).
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As I read this post, I thought about the scripture that "love covers a multitude of sins". That's the love that is sometimes needed when we encounter things within a fellowship that threaten to destroy unity. Sometimes, offense can be so heartfelt that you question (at least I have) continued fellowship with a particular body. Is my worldview out of sync with the people with whom I worship? Is it time to move on elsewhere? These are not easy questions and it reminds me that only the love of God can conquer all these questions.
"What breaks unity for you?"
I am part of a denomination that has been torn by division and, recently, schism. Pastors have left, often taking their congregations with them. Some of these pastors have been my friends. For us, questions about broken unity have been real ones on the ground.
I have found that disagreement--even theological disagreement--does not break unity for me. What has broken unity is the demonization of persons with whom there is disagreement. I have been likened to a Nazi, for example, by someone with whom I disagreed--for no other reason than that we did disagree.
I believe Darrell Guder has somewhere written of disagreeing Christianly as a form of witness. The world already knows how to demonize.
Hey Dru (#4),
I really appreciated your candid words. One encouragement is not to beat yourself up for your flock falling in love with one another seemingly more than with Jesus. Brennan Manning and Henri Nouwen have both helped me to discover that the Great Commandments are essentially ONE command - the second being "like" (i.e. "equal to") the first - that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.
Jesus equated love for neighbor with love for God routinely...
- "Whatever you did for the least of these...you did for me..."
- "As I have loved you...so you must also love each other..."
- The parable of the Good Samaritan, etc.
And Jesus even said our direct worship of God should take second place to making things right with our brother or sister ("leave your gift at the altar and go and be reconciled...). I'm not lecturing here at all - just wanting to cheer you on and to say "Awesome Job" in the leadership of your flock. You may be more blessed and on track than you think... :) Jesus's people loving each other is a good problem to have...
@Jeremy #1
I'm now adopting "who gives a crap" as my official eschatological position. Thanks.
Bonhoeffer reminds me that fellowships consist of real people that cannot be abstracted. That it is not lofty, dreamy and idealistic.
Our small fellowship is going through the pain of a family divorcing. I'm reminded ,again, how frail and in need of grace all of us are. That our unity can survive "only by that one Word and deed that really binds us together, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ".
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