Unfortunately, the troubling diversity of
our churches stems from a long history of division and dissention among
Christians. For nearly 500 years,
Protestants have been separated from Catholics.
Yet the Protestants are far from united.
Baptists differ from Methodist, Presbyterians differ from Lutherans, and
a new crop of non-denominational churches seek to be different from just about everyone.
What could cause such division? Often, the root cause is embarrassingly
trivial. I know of some congregations who
have literally split over the proposed color of their sanctuary’s new
carpet. Other groups have parted ways
because of differences of preference regarding worship and music style. Some have divided because of differences
regarding church leadership and structure. Sometimes, division is the result of
theological differences.
So now we have a city (and nation) filled
with differences of opinion regarding what it is to do church. But, there is a
deeper issue than this. The unfortunate
diversity reflected in our churches is simply a symptom of a more serious
disease. The real problem is that we often
fail to focus on that which unites us – we fail to focus on Jesus Christ.
As a result, we often place great
emphasis on nonessential things and miss our primary calling. We focus on attending church and on participating in various ministries. And while this is indeed important, church
membership is of little value in and of itself.
Think of it this way: someone who is sick should not be content to
simply be in a hospital
building. Healing comes from the care
given by the medical staff, not from merely entering the building.
To take this idea further, there is really
nothing special about a church building at all.
In fact, to put it simply:
Church is not something you do,
or some place you go.
It is who you are.
If
you claim to believe in Jesus, than you are
the church. “You are the Body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Cor. 12:27). In fact, every reference to “church” in
scripture refers to a group of people, not a building. They were a group united by their faith in
Christ
Sadly, every church in our town, including
mine, has some participants who view church as little more than a spiritualized
country club. They attend church out of
habit, ritual, or out of a desire to be seen – as if their mere attendance in
the building could merit some sort of righteousness. These are the ones whose behavior on Sundays
is vastly different than it was on Saturday night. While every church-goer will bear some mark
of hypocrisy at some point or another, these people flaunt their duplicity. And
ultimately, they fail to be united in faith because, in reality, they do not
possess such faith.
Why is our city not a better reflection of
Christian values? Because we have far
too many church-goers who are not actually a part of the Body of Christ. Some perhaps have trouble accepting the
inexplicable truth that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. Perhaps they selfishly think that their sins
place them outside of God’s desire or power to save. Perhaps they have become calloused and cold-hearted
so that they no longer desire to know their Creator. Perhaps they have simply convinced themselves
that they don’t need God, and that their career, their money, or their stuff is
sufficient. Regardless of their
reasoning, such masquerading “Christians” are a plague not only here in our
town, but across the nation.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way. If we, as individual residents of Hartsville,
would repent of our sins, recognize and accept God’s grace given through the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and commit to live for Him, then our city will
indeed be changed. We may not be blessed
economically, but we will be blessed. We
may not share identical theology, but we will be united. We may not worship the same way, but we will
indeed worship the same God. Peace and
joy will erupt in every household. Kindness
will become standard, and love will be our native tongue. Our problems will not disappear overnight,
but as every church building begins to overflow with true members of the Body
of Christ, we will be truly united in faith. “My goal is that [we] may be encouraged in
heart and united in love, so that [we] may have the full riches of complete
understanding, in order that [we] may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ”
(Ephesians 2:2).
Soli Deo Gloria
Tim Cotten
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