Gal
3:26-29
For you are all sons of God through faith in
Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized
into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there
is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise. NKJV
With
the mystery of "Oneness" in mind we must address
some issues that bring reproach to us as Christians
in our world today. Jesus himself said, "You will
know my disciples by the love they have for one another."
In His own words He rebukes the post-modern Church that
believes doctrines, theologies, and ministry expressions
are the foundation of our unified identity. It seems
as though we have fallen back into a legalistic Pharisee-like
perception where we believe that lives are changed more
through correction than through loving and serving connection.
Somehow, we have become spiritual consumers rather than
divine caretakers of creation and humanity.
The
true apostolic mind would find our territorialism, elitism,
and demand for respect of hierarchy in the Church a
far greater sin than that of the fornicator, liar, adulterer,
or thief. In fact, it is these things that are keeping
many who are still in darkness from coming to the Church
which is the Body of Christ. The Holy Scriptures say,
"The servant of all that will be the greatest among
you". In many ways servanthood has been replaced
with a sue-do secular approach to ministry. Whenever
building projects, recreational programs, and worship
of leadership replaces caring for our children, reaching
and caring for the oppressed, and serving one another
with the good news, we have lost the ability to sustain
unity in the community.
If
there is anything that will divide the people of God
it is the spirit of competition and performance.
When our pulpits, choirs, and esthetics take on a competitive
spirit and we attempt to use those things to try and
attract a dying world we will fail. At best, we will
just empower born again believers to hop from church
to church, preacher to preacher, program to program,
while those looking for a true conversion experience
sit on the sidelines baffled at our fruitless escapades.
So
what is the answer? The answer is to
return back to the principals given to the apostles
by Christ Jesus; a return and reconnection with the
Divine Mysteries as the focus of our ministries. Every
Christian community believes basically in what was delivered
to us by the fathers of the faith. We may manifest or
express these mysteries in different ways, but they
are for all of us, the basics of worship and unity.
The profound things about these mysteries are that they
demand the involvement of the common unity at every
level.
Whether
you call them sacraments, mysteries, or spiritual principals
no one can execute these things that keep us unified
individually. No one can baptize themselves; marry themselves,
ordain themselves, heal themselves, or commune themselves.
Even the act of forgiveness requires the involvement
of others according to the Holy Scriptures. God designed
His Kingdom around the concept of interdependent community.
God Himself is a community made up of Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Jesus' prayer for us is that we would be
"One" as He and the Father are "One".
Oneness is the ultimate goal of the Church yet for some
reason we continue to let our diversity divide us rather
than strengthen us for Kingdom purposes.
Although
we all embrace these mysteries (sacraments), in one
way or another we must remember they were given for
our unity not as instruments of debate and division.
When we are water baptized we are not only cleansed
from the Adamic nature but born into the community through
son-ship. We are in fact immersed into the Kingdom Culture
and our carnal identities are swept away. We are called
not only to live a life free from sin but a life sold
out to each other. The mystery of immersion brings with
it the responsibility to love my neighbor as myself
and not let anything divide us.
Likewise,
though we celebrate communion in different ways and
at different times we are reminded by Scripture that
we all eat from one table, one loaf, and drink from
one cup. We must begin to
understand that when we as unique specific communities
of faith take communion it is not in our denominations,
or non-denominations, but as one in Christ.
At this glorious feast we are doing it in "Remembrance
of Him". We are more than recalling the Passover
meal; we are reconnecting, renouncing our dismemberment
from Him, and coming together as one in the spirit of
love and unity. Although our expressions of it may be
different our intentions must be the same, "Unity
in the Community".
Look at the mystery of marriage (Matrimony); it is more
than a man and a woman standing at an altar with a minister.
It is an act of the community recognizing that because
Divinity has married humanity, after all we are the
Bride of Christ, a man can become a husband, a woman
a wife, and the two can become one flesh by this great
mystery of unity. St. Paul even states in the book of
Ephesians in the fifth chapter that he is speaking of
Christ and the Church. After all the Church is the incarnate
of Christ just as Jesus is the incarnate of the Father.
Eph
5:29-31
9 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes
and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and
of His bones. NKJV
A
return to the understanding of this incarnate mystery
should unify us because we will then see we become one
flesh in Christ and with Christ knowing that no one
ever hated his own flesh. At the end of the day a house
divided will not stand and we must fervently take action
against anything that promotes hating of diverse flesh.
How sad it is that inner communities of faith would
stoop to identify themselves as an ethnic church when
we know there is only one Body with many distinct but
interdependent members.
Individualism
was born out of the enlightenment age where science
attempted to take on the role of defining God. Unfortunately,
the church bought into this "individualistic"
salvation and identity. When God went from being Creator,
Father, and Divine Caretaker, to the supreme architect
and mathematician in the mind of the culture we lost
our interdependency with each other. We ceased to be
"family" and became "organizations"
with self serving (individualistic) agendas. In order
to sustain this approach to ministry the leaders of
the church were forced to use a "carnal" approach
in giving definition to their ministries. In the end
we have become divided because we continue to try to
"know" one another after the flesh rather
than the spirit.
A
simple return to the desire of Christ Jesus would be
a big step in restoring our purpose and reconciling
our relationships for the sake of unity. When our Lord
prayed for His people and humanity he specifically prayed
for our unity and oneness.
John
17:9-12 20-23
9 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world
but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I
am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy
Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given
Me, that they may be one as We are 20 "I do not
pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe
in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one
, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they
also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that
You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have
given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect
in one, and that the world may know that You have sent
Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. NKJV
Until
we find our Divine Identity in Christ and each other
we will continue to fuel the spirit of competition and
division in the Body of Christ. How sad it is that we
allow our cultural insecurities and individualistic
agendas to sway us from the ultimate purpose for which
Christ Jesus sacrificed His life namely our oneness.
We
must accept that in reality we are not just mere humans
having a spiritual experience but eternal spirits having
a human experience. This perception of divine identity
will bring us into unity where our diversities will
not divide but actually empower and unify us as the
Body of Christ. When we start loving other communities
of faith, without compromising the essentials of classical
Christianity of course, we will find joy in supporting
and loving those who love the same Jesus but express
themselves uniquely and differently.
When
will we decide to start bringing the love, unity, and
identity of Christ to others rather than bring them
to support our own ministry agendas? When
will we collaborate and cooperate to care for the poor
and hurting without caring who gets the credit? When
will we rejoice in the victory others are having in
their Kingdom mission and stop nit picking and criticizing
those who have a different approach or expression? Above
all, when will we stop devouring one another and start
serving and celebrating each other without expectation
of recompense, reward, or recognition? We must decide
to glorify God in our unity and love for one another
if we are going to establish the Kingdom of God on earth
as it is in heaven.
Jesus
Christ is not an Asian, Latino, African, Anglo, or anything
else other than the resurrected Divine Spirit housed
in the organic incarnate many-member Body called the
Church. He is the Head of this Holy Spirit housed temple
which according to St. Paul is the fullness of the God-head
bodily. Can the Body have a different nature than the
Head? Of course not, therefore we are all one in Christ.
Let our corporate prayer together be that we would start
living the scriptures rather than just preaching them
and that we would find the humility to esteem others
greater than ourselves. Above all, those us who call
ourselves "Christian" would love our co-laboring
brothers and sisters and their flocks and communities
as our own. Unity in the community is merely manifesting
to the world that there is One Shepherd with one flock
and that Christ is not divided.
