Evangelical, Mainline, Conservative, Liberal, Methodist,
Baptist, Adventist, American, Chinese—these are all terms that are commonly
used to describe some segment of Christianity, and yet they may mean different
things to different people. Lately it seems like there are dozens of articles comparing
the beliefs and practices of evangelical Christians versus mainline Christians,
yet often they don’t explain to the readers what they mean by those terms. I
got tired of trying to remember who’s who, so I quit reading them.
The bigger problem, as I see it, is that we aren’t supposed
to be dividing up the Body of Christ to begin with. The Apostle Paul wrote, “There
is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs
to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6 ESV). From God’s
perspective there are Christians and non-Christians and that’s it. “For just as
the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though
many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to
drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). Granted, there are different
beliefs in some of the grey areas of Scripture and there are differences in
polity and practice, but we are all one body.
Tony Evans comments in Horizontal Jesus:
“Even though we claim the same God
and worship the same Lord, we have allowed differences in race, class, culture,
preferences, priorities, platforms, and more to divide us. In doing so, we have
reduced our cultural impact as the horizontal representatives of Jesus” (112).
“Keep in mind that we are not
called to create unity but rather to preserve it. We don’t need to invent it—we
just need to live in it. Unity with each other comes by God’s Spirit living in
us… Unfortunately, though, too many of us align ourselves with preachers,
politicians, or platforms more than we do with God’s Word” (117).
“If we want our Lord to show up
with His powerful presence in the body of Christ, in our communities, and in
our nation, one of the first things we need to realize is that Christ did not
die for a denomination—He died for each one of us. Yes, preferences and
platforms exist. However, we would be far more effective in influencing
families, communities, and our culture with God’s kingdom principles based on
His Word if we focused on our common purpose” (118).
“Unity is a greater preamble to the
presentation of the gospel than anything else we could ever do” (122).
When the world sees only a fragmented and divisive church, what
are they likely to assume about the faith we profess? If we are more concerned about
our differences than about the Great Commission, is it any wonder our witness
bears little fruit for the kingdom? When our social media posts reflect our
politics more than our Savior, who are we expecting to convince? There are
places and times for such discussions, but I believe they should be far less
frequent and less public. We are ambassadors of Christ first and foremost (2
Cor. 5:20). How are we doing at representing Him?
“I appeal to you,
brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that
there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and
the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
“I do not ask for
these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that
they may all be one… so that the world may believe that You have sent Me” (John
17:20-21).
© 2019 Dawn
Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from
pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of
my church or employer.
