In all things charity ...

Early in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, one of the phrases that was used to shape our community was the expression, "In essentials, unity, in non-essentials diversity, in all things charity." These are noble words – words meant to unify, words intended to bring a people together and keep them together.

In reality and irony, these words are first attributed to Augustine. Augustine is one of the most well-known century church fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries because so much that he wrote still affects how so many Christians think. Yet Augustine lived in a time of great controversy. The controversy was not about what kind of music to have in worship, or the roles of women in the church. The arguments of the age were about the nature of Jesus Christ. Is he God? Is he human? The majority of the church decided that, if they were to be consistent with scripture, the words of Jesus, and the tradition of the church, Jesus was God in human flesh. If he is both God and human, how does this work? Serious thinkers spent a serious amount of time and ink over this.

But if only ink had been spilled, that would have been enough. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very long before more blood than ink had been wasted. Christians began the practice of banishing and eventually executing other believers – all in the name of unity, because of their inability to deal with diversity, and a general lack of charity. When the Reformation movement came along, Protestant Christians didn’t do much better. Anabaptists, who believed in baptism much the same as do we, were executed by Protestants. Ironically and cruelly, Protestants executed these baptism-believing Christians by drowning them.

Are we any different? I wonder. We humans have a problem: ideas are dangerous things. Ideas are powerful. Because they are powerful, they have the potential to reshape our thinking, our life, and our world. Yet, because we humans have the ability to misperceive, misunderstand, and misrepresent reality, not all ideas are useful, good, or true. Consequently, we feel the need to protect people, especially certain classes of people (children, students) from ideas that are dangerous in the negative sense of that word. That is where our quote really comes into play.

What is important enough to be essential? When do we cross over the line into the non-essential? Aren’t those questions that we disagree about, too? What is essential for me might very well seem a non-essential to you. How are we to negotiate our differences? Charity would seem to remain the guiding principle. Our conversation should display the virtue of love in our lives – both action and word.

Where are these conversations to take place? If we can’t have them in elementary Bible school class (and I don’t think that anyone would propose this), then where is a safe place that we can have conversations of disagreement that allow for the exchange of ideas and make persuasion possible? I think that it’s important to note that it is not so much location as attitude. Both parties have to feel safe for conversation. Yet persuasion requires compassion (love) for the other person, where debate seems, by its very definition, to involve disdain. Because Augustine engaged more in debate with his opponents than persuasion, his stance caused him to reject certain secondary ideas held by his opponent (the nature of humanity, for example) which weren’t necessary for him to reject. That’s one of the reasons we still have to worry with the doctrines of total depravity and original sin.

Once again, this has been a problem for us. When the Pentecostal churches began to emerge with an unusual view of the Holy Spirit, many within the Churches of Christ found it easier to disavow any contemporary activity or presence of the Spirit than to sort out just what it was that the Spirit might or might not be doing. As a result, we ended up with two groups: one saying the Spirit caused everything that they did, and one denying that the Spirit had done anything for 2,000 years. Both groups disconnected themselves from the truth and from each other. That’s a shame.

Today, it is inevitable that we are going to disagree with someone about something. It may not be the nature of Christ, or baptism, or the Holy Spirit, but it’s bound to be important. Let’s see if we can’t figure out how to prayerfully, lovingly, and truthfully apply this godly saying:

"In essentials, unity, in non-essentials diversity, in all things charity."

Blessings,

Ron

Settling our differences

First of all, several quick notes:

Because readership on Saturday is lighter, Saturday's devotional will simply be a passage of scripture. Meditation on that scripture during the events of the weekend can be powerful for those who will do so.

I've finished with my experiment in html email. It will make a great tool for the Home to communicate with its friends in the weeks to come. For a number of reasons I plan to return this devotional to regular email on Monday, unless the public outcry is against it. If you disagree, you can email me at wbhdir@aol.com.

In case you missed a devo, or misfiled one, an archive of the devotionals has been set up on a blog. The blog's web address is: http://www.wbhdevos.blogspot.com/

Matthew 18:12-35

"Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.

"If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him — work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.

"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"

Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.

"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.

"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'

"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.

"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy."

(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Show grace, make peace,

Ron