Why “GospelUnity” (Part 2)
The second part of "GospelUnity" is unity. This is a term, that I believe has been lost in modern evangelicalism. When I say lost, I mean that the true meaning of Biblical Unity has been compromised. The mantra in the modern evangelical church seems to be unity at all costs. I am convinced by the scriptures that this is not what God has called the Church to.
The Bible speaks of a unity that demands separation. This may seem conflicting, but consider the following passages:
2 Cor 6:17
"Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,"
God calls His people to be separate from the world. There should be no union (unity) that we share with the world.
James 4:4
"Friendship with the world is enmity to God."
If we are in union or friendship with the world, not only are we not of God, but we are against God.
John 15: 19
"If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
God instructs us that the world ought to hate us, as the world hated Christ, if we truly live righteous lives and obey his commandments.
1 Cor 15: 33-34
"Do not be deceived: 'Evil company corrupts good habits.' Awake to righteousness, and do not sin...."
God calls us to awake to righteousness and warns us against seeking unity with the world. So why then is there this tendency to want to seek unity above all other things, or even to think that we are doing the work of the Gospel by seeking unity with unbelievers?
1. As sinful people we like to avoid sin, confronting the sin in our own lives and the lives of others. This is one reason that we find it difficult to preach the Gospel to sinners (ourselves included). If we consistently confront sin with the message of God's righteousness and the punishment for sin, apart from the blood of Jesus Christ we will likely not struggle with seeking unity with the world, as the world will hate us.
One of the great failures of our day is the fear of man among evangelicals, so afraid of what people will think we cower in the court of public opinion. We avoid the topic of sin and skip straight to the message of grace (a compromised message without a right understanding of sin). This is also one of the reasons why we see so much compromise among the visible church, as many weekly attenders are merely goats, dressed up as sheep. They have never repented of their sin because they were never required to. This is a grave danger of preaching a truncated gospel, a direct result of seeking unity with unbelievers.
Isaiah 5:20-21
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness.... Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!"
2. Another common reason we seek unity with unbelievers is that we think we know better than God. We think that people will reject the Gospel if we speak of sin right away, so we compromise. We justify it by saying, eventually we will talk about sin, but after we have built "relationship" with the person. What does this lead to.... friendship with the world. It is not wrong to have friends that are unbelievers, but it is wrong to share with them a Gospel that has been manipulated to suit your own desires (in avoiding conflict). We see pastors leading the "sinners prayer" without mentioning a word of sin, can you not see the inherent contradiction.
Salvation becomes of little value to sinners as they don't even understand what they are being saved from. The church gathering becomes focused on evangelism (with a compromised Gospel), false assurance is given and the true sheep of God are starving in the pews. All of this because we think that we know better than God. Wisdom in our own eyes will lead to our destruction.
I have spent much time speaking of the unity that we are not called to, as the elect of God. Finally, I will explain the unity that we are called to.
Ephesians 4: 1-6
"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
The Church is called to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We are called to maintain the unity of the pure Gospel, among those who have been sealed by the Spirit and found peace with God through Jesus Christ alone.
Believers are to seek unity with one another through walking worth of the calling to which they have been called. What does that look like?
1. Seeking Unity in Humility (not thinking more highly than we ought)
-This is vitally important in dealing with theological differences, we must be humble and acknowledge that though the scripture is infallible our interpretation is not. We need to have grace for one another, just as Christ has shown us grace.
2. Walking in Gentleness
-A good way to understand this would be to exhort one another with humility. We are called to exhort one another to walk worthy, just as Paul is doing in Ephesians 4, but we must do it in gentleness.
3. Patiently, Bearing With One Another in Love
-From of heart of humility and gentleness, we must also be patient. To be patient could aptly be described as to bear with one another in love, again just as Christ was patient and long-suffering with us. It is not an option for us to simply allow a believer to live in continual un-repentant sin, but we must confront them with humility and gentleness. This is the goal of church discipline, to confront harmful un-repentant sin, with humility and gentleness, and to eagerly seek their restoration to the church, patiently in a long-suffering manner.
This is the "GospelUnity" that we are called to pursue!
