Remember that Coca Cola commercial from a few years ago: “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony”? Remember the Beatles’ song, “Imagine all the people Livin' life in peace…”?
Do you find it a bit strange that the voices most
frequently heard proclaiming that message of peace and unity come from the
secular world: a TV commercial; a rock song?
Meanwhile, back at the church… Rather than uniting around
our faith in Jesus, the entire history of the church is a referendum on
division. There are more than 200 Christian denominations in the United States,
not to mention all the independent and entrepreneurial Christian bodies—each
pointing out the errors in all the others. And more and more of the spiritually
hungry public is disillusioned and wants no part of it.
About 200 years ago, a father and son, Thomas and
Alexander Campbell, both ordained ministers, also had had enough. It was never
their intention to begin yet another Christian denomination. They dreamed of a
society in which all Christians could unite around a common, simple faith in
Jesus. Their dream never materialized; indeed, their movement now comprises
three separate denominations manifesting the same dissensions and hostility as
the whole of Christendom. We continue to crucify Christ.
And yet, the dream lives on. Sunday is World Communion Sunday. The tradition was begun in 1933 by Hugh Thomson Kerr
who ministered in the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania. Its purpose was to reconcile dissenting congregations in
that area.
Christian unity has been avoided, especially by the more
conservative denominations, because it is perceived that unity means all
churches will be coerced into affirming a single doctrine. But that’s not
unity. That’s uniformity, and it doesn’t work any better than division, because
a demand for uniformity disallows diversity. And religious faith—and especially
Christianity—thrives on diversity.
When we understand that our differences enrich our
relationships and our ministry—and our faith; and when we blend our diverse
gifts[1]
into a harmony of ministries, that’s when those spiritual fruits blossom:
“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control.”[2] And when
that’s what we produce—when the world sees those things emerging out of the
harmony of our ministries—then the mystery of God’s will[3] is
revealed, and God is glorified.
As we come to the Lord’s Table on this World Communion
Sunday, may we come in the awareness that Christians express faith in diverse
ways. Some disagree. Some are polar opposites of others. We don’t even agree on
what happens at the Lord’s Table. But we are united there by our common need
for God’s grace. We gather in the awareness that Christians all over this
planet will gather at a table and confess, “Jesus is Lord.”
That’s the way I see it through the Flawed Glass that is
my world view.
Together in the Walk,
Jim
[1] A broad variety of
spiritual gifts is mentioned in several New Testament passages, including
Romans 12:6-8; I Corinthians 12:8-10; ICorinthians 12:28-30; Ephesians 4:11; I
Peter 4:11, et. al. In I Corinthians 12:4-7 Paul refers specifically to the
variety of gifts, services, activities, and other manifestations of the Spirit
that are given by the “same Spirit”, the “same Lord,” and the “same God” (note
the early trinitarian formula.)
[2] Galatians 5:22-23
[3] Ephesians 1:9-10
