A Unifying Hope
Can Papist Monsters and Fire-Breathing Zealots work together?
On 31 October 1517, a German academic n named Martin Luther nailed a list to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral. This list contained 95 ‘theses’ — arguments Luther had with the established (Catholic) Church of the day. The religious powers were outraged, a somewhat reluctant Luther was pressured into forming his own church, and the rest is history.
Yet in the past thirty years, the two churches (Anglican and Catholic) have been talking to each other, to see how they can be reconciled, in 1999 releasing a joint document stating their common beliefs on how someone is saved. They’re still talking, exploring what beliefs they share in other parts of doctrine.
With that I begin my article on Christian unity. I hope it’s given you hope, because that’s precisely what I sometimes feel is lacking in this area of our religious lives. During my time as a believer, I’ve known Catholics who will readily identify themselves as such, but take much more pressing before they’ll call themselves Christians; Anglicans who are seemingly convinced that everyone who is not Anglican is either a dangerous sectarian zealot or else a fire-breathing, Latin uttering papist monster in true inquisition style; and more people who have been put off the concept of an organised church (and sometimes even Christianity altogether) by this.
If you’re not a Christian, you may be wondering how we’ve managed to get ourselves into this sort of state. To find out, go to the nearest Christian friend you know. Then go and find another, who disagrees with the first on some minor point of theology (say whether Noah really lived for 950 years, or possibly whether Samson was allowed to shave). All you have to do is bring them together and watch them whip out their Bibles in record time in order to start a heated debate as if salvation depended on it (you never know, one of them may say it does).
This habit of arguing trivial points is an incredibly easy one to fall in to — I’ve done it many times. The thing we should remember is that in every Bible, we will find the words “All of you are part of the same body. There is only one spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:4). We shall all be united in Heaven one day, and there we shall praise one true God for eternity. Until then, trying to get on with each other is the least we can do.
There is hope, however. Apart from the Catholic-Lutheran document I talked about earlier, the Methodists and Anglicans recently jointly announced that “There is no major issue to stop us joining.” Of course, I wouldn’t like you to think that I am talking solely about denominational unity here. This is a subject that strikes to the heart of every level of our Christian lives. I can be all too outspoken and hot-headed on issues I feel strongly about; sometimes disregarding what other people — including my friends — might have to say on the matter. I may even have an argument about the subject of Christian unity before then next issue of Christis comes out!
Of course, open debate is an extremely good thing. All too often though, we decide we’re never going to convince our friend / the church down the road / that other form of church etc that we’re right, and either keep on blindly repeating our views at them or else shut ourselves off altogether. How do you think the non-Christians we know will view the faith if they see many different factions hardly on speaking terms with each other, or else lots of people who argue all the time? One thing we must remember is to put love to the forefront of all situations. Paul wrote in a letter to the church in Corinth that “What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing unless I loved others” (1 Corinthians 13:2). When Paul wrote this letter, the Corinthian church was breaking up due to the believers’ frequent arguments amongst themselves. Paul went on to write that “Love is kind and patient… is always supportive, loyal, hopeful and trusting.” We should possess all those qualities in our dealings with other people, and since Jesus commanded us to love even our enemies, this should be no problem with other Christians!
Since I became a Christian, I have come to know more and more people who claim to follow the same God as I do. I have also learned that there are actually differences between what all of these people actually believe, with some of these differences being much larger than others. What should we do when we meet someone like this? There is a temptation to simply pretend that there are no differences between us, that we are united on every single bit of theology we know. That response is akin to papering over the cracks, and by doing it, we make sure that we can never fully understand the other person or their faith, or either of us grow from the experience. True allegiance comes from acknowledging that there are differences in our beliefs, and seeing where we can go from there — a more painful process, but one that can help everyone much more than the first. A lot of the time, we may have to accept that the Bible can be interpreted in different ways apart from our own. For instance, some Protestant churches say the Apocrypha (see issue 88 for more on this) cannot be trusted. The Anglican church says that “it can be trusted in matters of edification but not in matters of doctrine,” while the Catholic Church tells us that the Apocrypha is fine. Genuine differences in belief do exist between both churches and people. In discussing these issues, we may sometimes realise that the other person is right and we have been wrong, or else we may have to put aside our differences and work together for what we both believe in. This is how true unity can be formed.
In some cases, we may be sure that the other person is going down a track that not only is different from ours, but is also obviously wrong, and their error is severe enough to step in. In these cases, the Bible tells us “It’s wrong not to correct someone who needs correcting” (Leviticus 19:17), and “If you correct someone who has common sense, you will be loved.” (Proverbs 8:8). We should neither feel bitter towards that person (or church, or any Christian body) nor cut ourselves off from them, but we should lovingly correct them, being firm in our beliefs, but always sensitive to the other’s feelings, wanting what is best for them. If we are able to do that, it will be one more step towards a united body of Christ’s followers. That’s how it will be in Heaven, and that can’t be a bad thing.