In Christian meetings I often hear people say that believers
need to quit arguing over doctinal issues, and focus only on “the basics” such as salvation and sharing Christ's
love. In all reality though, this is a fairly simple-minded way to deal with disputes. There are other issues besides salvation
that are important enough to debate. And in our attempts to display God's love, we have to determine what “walking in
love” implies. We must be careful not to value unity so much that we make way for heretical practices to be carried
out in our company.
Recent Church Splits
As the media has covered frequently
throughout the past few years, hundreds of Christians have been leaving the Episcopal church lately and starting new denominations.
The formation of new denominations is something that many people would want nothing to do with now days. But the reasons for
these people leaving their church are ones that most Christians would probably agree with. For instance, anyone who knows
the Scripture can see that homosexuality is clearly immoral. Yet the Episcopal church has allowed a few of their gay men to
become bishops. Certainly this is unacceptable.
Another controversy that has
taken place within the last year is concerning the ministry of Todd Bentley. This evangelist was the original leader of the
Lakeland Revival, and he has ministered in many other places throughout America, Canada, and the world. One of his occasional
methods of laying hands on people is to slap them or kick them. He even knocked the tooth out of a woman before. It seems
hard for me to imagine anyone feeling safe to go to him for prayer, yet some would argue that questioning his tactics is divisive
and unhealthy for the Church. Such statements make me wonder if there is anything at all that could be considered unacceptable
by these worshippers.
Other Hairy Situations
There are many other issues
that are significant enough to separate people within Christendom. If a prayer leader started studying Catholicism, and then
lead people to pray to the saints, members of the prayer group may have to leave. If a well-liked woman was applying to become
a pastor, and the elders of the church rejected her because of her gender, that would cause a conflict that could not be avoided.
And when some Christians start teaching that Jews are already God's children, and do not need to receive Christ as Messiah,
that would be something worth protesting. This is a doctrine that has been promoted by some well-known ministers.
God's people should avoid
“splitting hairs” over things that do not matter. It is impractical though to expect everyone in Christ to cooperate
peacefully without ever getting into fights. There are an endless number of differences that each member of the Body has,
and because of this there are numerous types of churches. To act like we should all just come together under one or two essential
agreements is naive. We simply cannot claim that the disagreements Christians have do not matter.
The Path to Unity
The only way to truly find
healing in the Body of Christ is through ceaseless, prayerful dialogue. Until we learn to patiently hash out our differences,
we will never walk in the fullness of unity. This is why the Bible says “iron sharpens iron,” (Prov. 27:17). We
have to correct one another, or else no correction will ever come. This is not to forsake our focus on love. It is to express
our love by helping one another mature.
