Unity We Can Live Without

 

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!  Psalm 133:1

A couple of quotes on “unity” by preacher/scholars have been “cooking” on my back burner for a while; the first is from the ministry of Dr. Adrian Rogers:

It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills.  It is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie.[1]

Walter Brueggemann follows the thought:
Proper unity manifests itself in an ability to live together without conflict, oppression, and having common objectives in tune with God’s purposes for the world.  At the same time, scattering should not result in fragmentation or divided loyalty to God.[2]

For me, both quotes are poignant commentary on Paul:

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.  Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.  This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.  Ephesians 4:11-13

All three thoughts are part of the same idea concerning the kind of unity with which we can survive (and thrive), and that which condemns us to revisit original sin.  Of the three, Adrian Rogers puts it on the shelf low enough for even a small child:  it is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error.

You hear a lot about “unity” these days, especially out of Washington, D.C...  Although it is never articulated (and how could politicians ever be clear), is that what they mean by political unity is for all of us to think like they do, so we can set things up like we all want.  An irascible fly in that formula for the petulance of keeping the powerful in power, is that unity (to a politician) means do it my way, even if it means ignoring any truth that contradicts what I want.

A disclaimer – I’m about to use political realities to illustrate what I’ve just said about Rogers, Bruggemann, and Paul, but these are not political plugs.  More so, these will show us what living under political banners causes – the kind of unity two cats have when their tails are tied together.

The previous administration was entirely about power and economy.    Led by a businessman-turned-politician, putting America first was the Holy Land.  The current administration lauds equality and justice.  Led by a career politician, the new Nirvana is holding hands at whatever cost.  The Republican party “values” center on the economic status quo and keeping the rules.  The Democratic party “values” almost no rules, and a Federal open-door policy to the treasury.  Both parties want everyone in the land to bow to their way of doing things.  In real-time what they are proposing is not unity, but uniformity, falling in lock-step behind the current leader, even if it means walking off the cliff of truth.

In short, Republicans need to read God’s take on materialism, you know, that irritating little thing about rich people ignoring the poor, and finding the gateway to Heaven a little cramped?

In short, Democrats could do well to remember that “equal” and “just” extend to all of life, even those living in the womb.

For You Today

A truly “woke” America isn’t just about ending oppression of one race, gender issues, or political strategies.  A truly woke America would be one that has learned (again) to be humble before He who is truly God.

Hint – He won’t be found when they call the roll on Capitol Hill, or Pennsylvania Avenue.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

---

[1] Longtime pastor of Belview Baptist Church, Dr. Adrian Rogers, via Goodreads

[2] The New Interpreter’s Bible (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1994) P.414

Constructing the Kingdom

[1]

Monday, June 10, 2019

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.  Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.  This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.  Ephesians 4:11-13

When God puts a gift into your hand you’re supposed to use it.  That was the example God created as He formed the New Testament era church.  God placed gifts of apostle, evangelism, and pastor/teacher in the lives of individuals like Paul, Peter, James, John, Timothy, Priscilla and Aquila (to name a few).  These men and women did not place these gifts on a shelf to be admired; they staked their lives on using these precious blessings to build-up God’s Kingdom church.

That example, and the process (God giving a gift, God’s children using that gift, and Jesus, by His Spirit maturing and multiplying everything about the church) has not changed since the birth of the church at Pentecost two thousand years ago. 

Something else has not changed about that process and the Kingdom; some people use their gift as a precious tool to build, while others lay it on a shelf, because they either don’t have the heart to do the work, or they’re afraid they’ll mess-up the work, so they never begin.  After all, there is something intimidating about knowing you’re handling the holy, knowing God is watching.

I was once given a gift of a camera.  It was a brand new 7-mega pixel gem.  I was on my way to Africa to participate in a mission project, and these dear friends wanted to undergird what I was doing.  At the time I’d just turned 60 and had never been involved in hands-on missions on foreign soil before.  I was nervous about the trip, and (truth be told) had thoughts of pulling out.  The gift was meant to encourage me (and it did that immeasurably), but the gift also strengthened and challenged me to throw myself into the work.  After all, if human friends would believe in me (hey, that camera was expensive, and they also placed money in my hands to bless and extend ministry), well, I felt like I was in a corner to do my very best to follow God’s leading.

I couldn’t record with that camera the smells, heat, and the stark poverty I encountered in southern Africa on that trip, but the depth of how God’s Spirit is working on that continent came alive in me as I did my best to labor, and keep a visual record of the work with that camera.  The experience made deep memories, and the pictures I took have served as monuments ever since to constantly remind me of what Kingdom construction really looks like. 

So, you might be asking, what does that have to do with me…I’m not a prophet, pastor, or missionary…no apostle here…I’m an average guy who goes to church and is a substitute teacher for the third grade Sunday School class.  But that’s just the point…who were Peter, James, and John, anyway?  They were fishermen scratching-out a living with a leaky boat and old nets in need of repair.  They had families and responsibilities; life was no easier for them than for any human child God ever created.  The difference in their lives, and in the construction of God’s Kingdom here on earth, was when they began to realize God had spoken gifts of ministry into their lives, that trust built-up their faith, and caused them to understand that was the very mission they were commissioned to extend…they were gifted to build up people, and so build the church.

For You Today

It’s an old saying, but how could I not say it…God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.  And to borrow a little MasterCard^© thinking and shape it into the real Master’s Building code:  What’s in your gift wallet?  And more importantly, How will you use your gifts today?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com  
             Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©