I like Mike Horton, got introduced to him through the White Horse Inn, which are a great bunch.
Though I share his desire I do not share his view. Most of what I read about church unity is written by ministers who have a church where they are the ones teaching and preaching so with that being the case they do not have any concern with the doctrine being taught because they are teaching what they already believe. Its a bit of a self centred view plain because it removes the people in the pew. I suggest any minister seeking and preaching unity (a truly noble desire and task) should first put themselves back in the pew and see what it is like to be under a leadership that grinds against what they believe. Now try and bring biblical correction, in love, using all the methods and models set out for us in the Scriptures and get a real world view of what unity is and is not.
Lets use the Anglican church as an example, not to pick on them because the same is true for all. In Anglicanism you can believe and practice anything you want from Anglo-Catholic and their doctrine of traditions and mother church, Charismatic and their 1979 BCP or Reformed which also branches off into a few sub categories. Just about all of the ministers within the Anglican Communion hold that they are unified in Christ and proclaim how great a unity it is, but with that said, most would not submit to the teaching and doctrine of the others brand. This is why it is so easy for the clergy to preach unity simply because they don't have to practice it. So in reality what is being said is "We are unified in name, divided on doctrine" This unity is not based on common faith its based on not discussing what is meant of what they say.
Lets go a step further to explain. The 39 Articles are a wonderful historical document which has been lauded and touted far and wide throughout the Anglican world, it shows up in just about every declaration, council, constitution and BCP. All the different brands claim to be adherents to it but here again there is a problem. They say with their lips that they agree to the 39 Articles but not in the meaning of them. If you visit a Anglo-Catholic parish, a Charismatic parish and a Reformed Evangelical parish and ask what each of the articles mean you are going to get 3 very different, un-unified out right opposed answers. So in what are they unified?
For the purpose of clarity lets now go straight to the foundation, Christ. All 3 brands of Anglicanism would say they believe/receive Christ as Lord and Saviour and to that I say Amen......well almost amen. Here again if you ask questions you get different answers. Do all 3 believe Jesus Christ is exactly who He says he is? Do they believe all of what the Scriptures say about Him and God’s purpose? Do they believe all of His testimony? Do they believe who sent Him? Do they believe why He was sent? Do they believe to whom He was sent? Do they believe He is the Living Word? Do they believe in the absolute authority of this Word even over the church? We all know the answer.
Unity is something that, by its very nature, has to be genuine on behalf of everyone involved. When seeking to unify that which currently is not it has to be in common meaning and understanding not just words and documents. If we are not united in the common meaning and understanding of our faith in the Foundation everything else is done in vain like that which is built upon sand. The really awesome part is the Lords sheep are unified in Him no matter where they are because of His faithfulness and His covenantal love, but sadly they must content with the wide spread abandonment of Christ Centred, Biblical leadership, the sort that seeks first the Kingdom and Glory of God in Christ and cares nothing of tradition, self and flesh.
Doctrine divides and rightly so. Doctrine unites and rightly so. Jesus Christ and all his faithful taught sound doctrine, it drew in and nourished his sheep but it also drove people away, so much so they murdered the King of Glory and would do it again today. The true merit of any doctrine which is taught has nothing to do with the numbers of people in your church or how fast it grows but rather if it bears good fruit and we all know a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. To conclude, do not judge the fruit of any doctrine or teaching by its appearance, it may look very appealing and tasty but judge everything by its taste for the Lord said in Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
In reference to "Do all 3 believe Jesus Christ is exactly who He says he is?" I meant to say also:
Most of today's clergy either don't believe all of it or are terrified to preach it all in fear of revolt from the pews or of loosing members in an age of dwindling congregations. Neither of these reasons is acceptable to God but they will be held accountable.
3 comments:
I like Mike Horton, got introduced to him through the White Horse Inn, which are a great bunch.
Though I share his desire I do not share his view. Most of what I read about church unity is written by ministers who have a church where they are the ones teaching and preaching so with that being the case they do not have any concern with the doctrine being taught because they are teaching what they already believe. Its a bit of a self centred view plain because it removes the people in the pew. I suggest any minister seeking and preaching unity (a truly noble desire and task) should first put themselves back in the pew and see what it is like to be under a leadership that grinds against what they believe. Now try and bring biblical correction, in love, using all the methods and models set out for us in the Scriptures and get a real world view of what unity is and is not.
Lets use the Anglican church as an example, not to pick on them because the same is true for all. In Anglicanism you can believe and practice anything you want from Anglo-Catholic and their doctrine of traditions and mother church, Charismatic and their 1979 BCP or Reformed which also branches off into a few sub categories. Just about all of the ministers within the Anglican Communion hold that they are unified in Christ and proclaim how great a unity it is, but with that said, most would not submit to the teaching and doctrine of the others brand. This is why it is so easy for the clergy to preach unity simply because they don't have to practice it. So in reality what is being said is "We are unified in name, divided on doctrine" This unity is not based on common faith its based on not discussing what is meant of what they say.
Lets go a step further to explain. The 39 Articles are a wonderful historical document which has been lauded and touted far and wide throughout the Anglican world, it shows up in just about every declaration, council, constitution and BCP. All the different brands claim to be adherents to it but here again there is a problem. They say with their lips that they agree to the 39 Articles but not in the meaning of them. If you visit a Anglo-Catholic parish, a Charismatic parish and a Reformed Evangelical parish and ask what each of the articles mean you are going to get 3 very different, un-unified out right opposed answers. So in what are they unified?
For the purpose of clarity lets now go straight to the foundation, Christ. All 3 brands of Anglicanism would say they believe/receive Christ as Lord and Saviour and to that I say Amen......well almost amen. Here again if you ask questions you get different answers. Do all 3 believe Jesus Christ is exactly who He says he is? Do they believe all of what the Scriptures say about Him and God’s purpose? Do they believe all of His testimony? Do they believe who sent Him? Do they believe why He was sent? Do they believe to whom He was sent? Do they believe He is the Living Word? Do they believe in the absolute authority of this Word even over the church? We all know the answer.
Unity is something that, by its very nature, has to be genuine on behalf of everyone involved. When seeking to unify that which currently is not it has to be in common meaning and understanding not just words and documents. If we are not united in the common meaning and understanding of our faith in the Foundation everything else is done in vain like that which is built upon sand. The really awesome part is the Lords sheep are unified in Him no matter where they are because of His faithfulness and His covenantal love, but sadly they must content with the wide spread abandonment of Christ Centred, Biblical leadership, the sort that seeks first the Kingdom and Glory of God in Christ and cares nothing of tradition, self and flesh.
Doctrine divides and rightly so. Doctrine unites and rightly so. Jesus Christ and all his faithful taught sound doctrine, it drew in and nourished his sheep but it also drove people away, so much so they murdered the King of Glory and would do it again today. The true merit of any doctrine which is taught has nothing to do with the numbers of people in your church or how fast it grows but rather if it bears good fruit and we all know a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. To conclude, do not judge the fruit of any doctrine or teaching by its appearance, it may look very appealing and tasty but judge everything by its taste for the Lord said in Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Now I say Amen.
In reference to "Do all 3 believe Jesus Christ is exactly who He says he is?" I meant to say also:
Most of today's clergy either don't believe all of it or are terrified to preach it all in fear of revolt from the pews or of loosing members in an age of dwindling congregations. Neither of these reasons is acceptable to God but they will be held accountable.
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