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Resisting Disunity

There is more to unite than divide us.

Giants of the Reformation (6)

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit… Ephesians 4.1-4

Institutes of the Christian Religion
John Calvin (1509-1564)
“For not all the articles of true doctrine are of the same sort. Some are so necessary to know that they should be certain and unquestioned by all men as the proper principles of religion. Such are: God is one; Christ is God and the Son of God; salvation rests in God’s mercy; and the like. Among the churches there are other articles of doctrine disputed which still do not break the unity of the faith.”

Well, maybe not in Calvin’s day, but certainly in ours. Doctrines such as how you worship, which version of the Bible, what you think about the Spirit, how you perform the sacraments, and more are cherished and brandished these days to distinguish churches from one another, asserting the superiority of the one and the inferiority of all the others. The fragmented state of the Church today is a great sin. It is one of the tragic offspring of the Protestant Reformation. Our studied disunity betrays our claim to be the Body of Christ, which is one Body, and compromises our witness to the watching world (Jn. 17.21). The worst part of this situation is that church leaders do almost nothing to establish, express, and maintain the unity they have in Christ with other churches. Yes, this is hard work (v. 3, spoudazontes – working hard), but we must not let secondary doctrinal or ecclesiastical differences get in the way of our demonstrating the oneness we have in Christ.

What other churches in your community share the doctrines of saving grace with yours? What might you do to show your unity to the rest of the community?

T. M. Moore

Organizing with the Spirit
The Lord Jesus is building His Church. His Word is the blueprint, His Spirit is the General Contractor, and we are all builders together of the Body of Christ. But are we doing our work God’s way, or ours? The Spirit has His ways of organizing our work, and we do well to understand as much as we can about His methods. This is the argument of Dr. Kent Miller of Michigan State University, and you can watch our Conversation with Dr. Miller, and download a free copy of his paper on the subject, “Organizing with the Spirit,” by clicking here.

The Fellowship of Ailbe is supported through the generous and faithful gifts of those who benefit from and believe in our work. Does the Lord want to use you in this way? Please look to Him in prayer over this question. You can contribute to The Fellowship of Ailbe by using the Contribute button at our website, or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452. Thank you.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.All quotations from John Calvin,
Institutes of the Christian Religion, John T. McNeill, ed., Ford Lewis Battles, tr. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960), Vol. 2, Book IV, pp. 1012ff.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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