Would it not be wonderful if a hundred million listening ears would hear the rallying cry issued by CHRISTIANITY TODAY (June 9 issue) under the heading, “Somehow, Let’s Get Together!”
Possibly it can be done. At least the time for a try is upon us, and the wind is in our favor. Existing religious orders are shattering. The bankruptcy of modern religious organization is evident. On every hand there seems to be an ecumenical spirit.
When men long for unity, dramatic new dimensions of fellowship are possible. Dreams of unity are omnipresent, but the pain of working out the problems of making it a reality is so great that few will really attempt the task. The sweet fruits of unity grow on the highest limbs, and we have to climb for them.
First of all, we must recognize that division, in itself, is no sin. If it were, then any who have ever protested against the errors of apostate religion would have become sinners in their protests. This would include Martin Luther and John Wesley. All who have been forced to separate from apostate orders to preserve the New Testament message would be classed as sinners.
Division may be the result of sin, but division is not sin. Some, like Moses, would rather suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. When division comes because of departure from God’s word, it is lamentable; when it comes in an attempt to depart from departure and return to New Testament teaching or pattern, it is commendable.
Perhaps this is a good time to ask just where unity can be found. It cannot be achieved by tying together conflicting ideologies in a loose federation. Nor can it be found in diversity. Unity and diversity will forever be antithetical.
If we all are to sit together under one umbrella, what is that umbrella? If it is nothing more than the “Christian world,” then we already have that. All heathenism lumps us all under that umbrella. And under it we will continue to have all the division and strife we have always had. We must do better than that.
If that umbrella is to be a federation of denominations, we already have that in the World Council of Churches. Even Roman Catholicism shows interest in getting its head in that shade. But what a hodgepodge of division and strife we would have under that umbrella. What would we have gained?
Churchmen may claim unity under almost any umbrella, but their claim will be denied by their actions until they all become willing to give and take. The current attitude seems to be to hold on to what you have and force everyone else under the umbrella to make room for you. If each could give what truth he has to all the rest, and take what truth others have to himself, it would not be long before real unity would begin to work like leaven.
Most approaches to unity have proposed an organization that would make room for all the diversity possible. This approach is wrong, because unity is found in faith, not in machinery. If we had a common faith, we would have unity. Our great diversity results from our lack of a common faith. On the single items about which we all believe the same thing, we already have unity. We will have more only when we believe the same thing at more points. Unity does not come from merging organizations; it comes from merging faith.
Therefore there will be no cause for excitement about attempts to get together until we show a willingness to reason together. Unity will become real when various faiths melt into one. When that happens, unity will be automatic. Biblical faith comes from only one source—the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). Christendom is divided because it has been unwilling to go to that one source for its faith. Martin Luther’s cry of “the Bible only” has gone unheeded. Regardless of what umbrella we gather under, we will still have all the division we ever had, so long as we insist upon the unimportance of the Bible as the sole and sufficient source of religious authority. There will be no more unity than when we were scattered upon a thousand hills. A huddle of diverse elements isn’t unity. We may fight together, vote together, petition together, and plan together, but unity will elude us until we believe the same things.
How can we do something about unity? First we must find where biblical unity lies. Merging ecclesiastical machinery and cutting across party lines is not a step in the right direction. We do not need to cross party lines; we need to remove them. So long as a unity cry recognizes party lines and pleads that we ignore them, it circumvents the very thing that made a plea for unity necessary.
It is perfectly clear to the Bible student that the Lord who gave himself to purchase the Church intended that all his followers be gathered together in one undenominational and undivided body, the Church. It is so constituted that it is now, and forever will be, one. The question is, Who is ready and willing to be identified with it? Party loyalties have kept professed followers of Jesus following something other than Jesus. It is these party loyalties that nullify our cries for unity. Retaining them will make unity impossible. Only when they are surrendered completely, and all partyism has melted into the very being and reality of Jesus Christ, can the Church be one. Crossing party lines or ignoring party differences is no substitute for the eliminating of them.
The Lord does not require that we give up any truth we may ever have had. He does ask us to give up any error we have. Possibly we can get together. But it can happen only when each of us is willing to give up any error he may have to walk in the light of the more noble truth that his neighbor may have, or that the Bible most surely teaches.
