Unity in the Church

I have a vision for unity in the Body of Christ. It is not one of a single church structure incorporating all Christ-followers throughout the world, that is, it's not where all the Protestants and Catholics become Eastern Orthodox, or any other combination like that. Rather, my vision rests on a view of I Corinthians 12, where Paul illustrates the Body using, well, a body, where the hand can't say to the foot, "I don't need you," etc.

My view is that all this denominationalism and sectarianism (not sure that's the word I want) is not necessarily bad. It seems to me that each facet of the Church (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant-in all its flavors, and others) is a member of the overall body and that ALL are a necessary part of it. Indeed, not only are they all necessary, but I believe they are all Spirit-directed and (dare I say it) "predestined." I do not believe God intended a homogeneous people who all believed the same doctrines and all practiced the same mode of worship. If that is what is meant by spiritual unity, then I see no hope that it will come in my (or anyone else's) lifetime.

A word of caution here: I am not advocating a universalist/pluralist understanding that no doctrinal positions matter. On the contrary, I believe there should be a set of beliefs (and practices) that are categorized as "essential" such that the term Christ-follower is not applied to anyone NOT believing and practicing these in their totality. Of course, the hard part is determining what these should be and how to reach consensus on them. That will certainly require the action of the Holy Spirit. Maybe He will revive those ancient "council's" again? (And, no, I don't mean the WCC!)

I believe our part in this is two-fold. First, we should acquaint ourselves with other elements of the Church different from our own - their history, their beliefs, their practices, their theology - as a means of discovering the common ground we share. Second, we should take a hard look at the differences we cling to and prayerfully weigh these against Scripture and Church history (and history in general!) to see which of these are only held out of prejudice or preference, and be willing to remove some of them from our own list of "essential" doctrines.

I believe we will find that we have far more in common with others than we presuppose; and that we will learn that many things we hold as true did not have their origins in The Truth.

More to follow...