Christian Unity

Overview

What binds Christians together and makes us all brothers and sisters? Certainly not our denominations. Certainly not our agreement on all doctrines.

Christians are in unity with one another because they are united with Christ, the head of the church.

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Related article: Protestant vs. Catholic Comparisons

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The Goal ...

All Christians who are destined to end up in heaven should have unity with one another while on earth.

This goal has implications. Since most Christians believe that Christians who are not members of their denomination or Church Community can also end up in heaven, we must allow for unity which crosses these boundaries.

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The Cost ...

The Catholic Church has grudgingly admitted that Protestant Christians are also members of the true church. (Too bad they didn't recognize this during the Protestant Reformation.)

True Christians should not kill one another. The various Christian wars in various parts of the world should come to an end. Christians of different groups should work together and not oppose each other's views or work.

Christians should not be violent towards one another. I hear of Catholic and Orthodox Churches which commit acts of violence against Protestants who move into their areas. This is wrong.

Christians should not discriminate against each other. Catholics should not discriminate against Protestants and Protestants should not discriminate against Catholics.

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Heresy ...

The motivation for Christians who treat one another badly is that each group considers their views as correct and the other's views as heretical (I am ignoring those pseudo-Christian groups which claim to be Christian but which are not). In order to have Christian unity as I am proposing requires that Christians be more tolerant of each other's views.

Just as during the Protestant Reformation the various Christian groups each considered that they had arrived at the ultimate Christian truth and that other Christians were heretics, so today many Christian groups intensely believe that only they have the true gospel and that other Christian groups are agents of the devil. Needless to say, this kind of "fundamentalist" thinking does not lead to Christian unity, but to religious wars and division.

My conclusion after taking sides with several different Christian groups over the years is that we must become "Ecumenical" Christians.

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Christian Culture ...

Can committed couples of different Christian faith traditions live together in peace, unity and harmony? Can Christians love one another in the faith? (Titus 3:15)

Is the church flawed? I suppose it is because people are flawed. Another way of viewing this that emphasizes the positive . . .

The analogy of personality traits

We each have various personality traits. Each person has a certain measure of each particular personality trait — some have more; some have less. For example, the personality trait of Social Boldness — some are more bold in social situations; some less bold. It is wrong to think of these variations among individuals as flaws (unless carried to unhealthy extremes or if they interfere with day-to day functioning).

No one in the world has the maximum amount of every personality trait, and nobody is without any personality traits at all — each of us has a mixture.

Just as individuals have personality traits, so do Christian communities. Not all are equal; some are stronger in one area and weaker in others. This was true even in the apostolic era as the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation indicate.

These personality traits of Christianity occur at various levels — at each local church and at each denomination or Christian community. Thus, for example, the Southern Baptists have a certain culture but each local Southern Baptist church has its own culture. That is why Christians sometimes switch churches — when the culture changes (often when the pastor leaves) they sometimes change denominations if they happen to find a local church they feel at home in.

The Traits

Certainly there are negative characteristics; these should be avoided . . .

• Spiritual deadness.
• Considering the purpose of the gospel as a means of becoming materially prosperous.
• Rejection of the gospel and the core Christian doctrines (such as man's sinfulness, the need for salvation, the existence of heaven and hell, God's judgment of sinners, Jesus as deity, Jesus' atoning sacrificial death on the cross, the resurrection, etc.) This is often the view of liberal Christianity.
• Unholiness, corruption, etc.
• Anti-Catholic.
• Anti-Protestant.

Other characteristics are neutral unless carried to the extreme or if the core traits are missing . . .

• Traditional, emphasis on traditions
• "Churchiness" (the clergy talks mostly about the clergy; there is an emphasis on the liturgical calender, rites and rituals; Christianity seems more about programs than about a relationship with God and others.)
• Ecumenical. To have unity with other Christian communities at all cost (this often includes unity with liberal Christian groups). Doctrines and traditions are discarded to avoid offending others or having differences with others.
• Social emphasis. Fellowship and helping others in need.
• Self-help / self-improvement. Many of the TV Christian programs seem to have this emphasis.
• Uneducated about the Bible.
• Uneducated about Church history.
• Extreme emphasis on evangelism.
• Liturgical.
• Devotion to Mary and the Saints, etc. Expressing prayer and devotion via statues, candles, kneeling, etc.

The traits which should be strongly emphasized in every church . . .

• "On-fire" for the Lord.
• Emphasis on prayer and spiritual devotions.
• Emphasis on holiness and living virtuously.
• Emphasis on helping others in need.
• Doctrines in agreement with the early church.
• Emphasis on the Bible.
• Fellowship.

Traits which I think are important (but not essential) because the early church practiced these from the beginning . . .

• Eucharist. Churches having this: Catholic (including Eastern Catholic and uniate churches), Lutheran, Anglican/Episcopalian, "Eastern" Orthodox (some such as the OCA are now "western").
• Quality church leadership (leaders know, teach and defend the faith as passed-down by the apostles; leaders have a pastoral spirit; leaders are holy).
• Liturgical church services.
• Eucharistic churches should allow all baptized Christians to participate as long as they meet these conditions: (1) They believe what that denomination teaches about the Eucharistic, (2) they are living in a state of grace (no habitual mortal sin).

Article originally written August 15, 2009.

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