Notes from the Wayside: Introspection: Who Am I to Speak of Unity?

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

Who Am I to Speak of Unity?

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NRSV)

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you?

Tell me, sister, what matters more to you?

From "What Matters More" by Derek Webb

In the First Century AD, St. Paul traveled throughout the Roman World, telling people about Jesus Christ and organizing communities of believers. In other words, Paul was one of the first church planters. He planted one of these communities in the city of Corinth, and, after he left Corinth, a man named Apollos arrived and began to shepherd the community.¹ For some reason, the Christians in Corinth began to divide themselves into factions based on which leader they followed. Perhaps differing backgrounds caused Paul and Apollos to differ on some issues.²

Paul wrote the church in Corinth rather long letter in which he addressed the divisions within their community. He urged them to "be in agreement" with each other and not divided. He pointed out the pettiness of their divisions, writing,
Each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to [Peter]," or "I belong to Christ." Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?³

I'm glad we don't have divisions like this in the Church today.

Oh, wait...

In 2011, Rob Bell, one of my favorite Christian thinkers, published a book in which he challenged conventional beliefs about heaven and hell. Before this book was even released - actually, when the book had just been announced - another popular pastor and writer tweeted, "Farewell, Rob Bell."⁴ In other words, he was saying, "You are no longer one of us." Controversy ensued, and words like heretic were thrown around.

This year, a number of pastors in my own denomination have called for a schism over the issue of gay marriage.⁵ Maybe Shane Claiborne was right when he joked that United Methodist Church is an oxymoron.⁶

Well, I'm glad that I've personally managed to rise above the human impulse to be divisive.

Or maybe not...

Not long ago, I had a rather tense encounter with a fellow Christian who is a great deal more conservative than I am. I will not go into details about the conversation, but she indicated that she and her husband considered people in the Roman Catholic Church to be outside of their faith. As someone who considers himself to be a more "progressive" Christian, I told her that I don't consider Catholics to be outside of my faith. She replied, "You don't? Well, we do." Unable to think of a more condescending response in such a short time, I just said, "Apparently."

Have I mentioned that I'm not exactly the most humble and grace-filled Christian in the world?

Though I like to point the finger at the more conservative or fundamentalist Christians for judging and "otherizing" people who don't believe exactly like they do, I cannot deny that the more liberal or progressive Christians bear their own share of the blame for disunity in the Church. Fundamentalists look at progressives and say, "You people are not true Christians!" At the same time, progressives look at fundamentalists and say, "You people are nuts!" Like other progressives, I sometimes find myself wanting to tell people, "Yes, I'm a Christian, but I'm not one of those Christians."

Though I try to remember that all people who earnestly seek to follow Jesus Christ are my brothers and sisters, I have to take ownership of my own divisiveness. Though I don't go around trying to create fractures in the Church, I am divisive within my heart. Though I like to think that I am inclusive, I have a tendency to mentally divide people into "us" and "them" - the people who think like I do versus the people who are wrong.

Again, have I mentioned that I'm not exactly the most humble and grace-filled Christian in the world?

Earlier this month, I attended the South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Cokesbury, the United Methodist bookseller, always sets up shop at Annual Conference, and I always take some time to browse. This year, I found a book titled Calvin vs Wesley. This book compares and contrasts the teachings of John Calvin and John Welsey, two influential Christian theologians from the past five hundred years.⁷ The title of the book is in itself divisive: it sounds as if Calvin and Wesley are about to enter the boxing ring to duke it out. Furthermore, the book is published by Abingdon Press, the official publisher of the United Methodist Church: without a doubt, the author will be biased in favor of John Wesley who started the Methodist movement.

I bought the book for that very reason. As a card-carrying United Methodist, I am a fan of John Wesley and his theology. On the other hand, the more I learn about John Calvin's thought, the less I like. What I find particularly disturbing about Calvinism is the idea that God has decided beforehand who will be saved and who will not. God extends grace only to the "elect." The elect cannot resist this grace, and the un-elect cannot obtain it. You may have heard this idea described as predestination. Wesley found such ideas abhorrent and taught that God wants all people to be redeemed and reconciled to God. God extends grace to all people, but people are free to accept or reject this grace.⁸

Nowadays, Paul might write to the Church,
Each of you says, "I am a Calvinist," or "I am a Wesleyan," or "I am a Catholic," or "I am a Protestant," or simply "I am a Christian." Has Christ been divided? Was Wesley crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Calvin?
Divisiveness within the church today is as petty as it was in Paul's day. Still, How can people with such divergent beliefs possibly consider themselves "one holy universal and apostolic Church"?

It has been done in the past.

One of the leaders in the early Methodist revival movement was a protege of John and Charles Wesley named George Whitefield. Over time, Whitefield would prove to be a more effective preacher than John Wesley. In fact, It was Whitefield who gave John Wesley the idea to start preaching outdoors. After Wesley's own failed missionary efforts in Georgia, Whitefield himself traveled to the American Colonies. He was influenced by the Calvinist Puritans, and he started to believe in predestination. Inevitably he butted heads with the Wesley brothers over this issue. The Methodist movement was split between those who agreed with Wesley and those with more Calvinist leanings like Whitefield.

Eventually, tempers cooled, and Whitefield and the Wesley brothers decided to agree to disagree over predestination and to put their differences behind them for the greater good. George Whitefield became a traveling evangelist, while John Wesley focused on pastoring the Methodist communities. Whitefield and the Wesley brothers remained faithful friends and allies until Whitefield's death in 1770. At Whitefield's request, John Wesley delivered the sermon at Whitefield's funeral.⁹

Sometimes being in agreement means agreeing to disagree.

To the First-Century Christians in Corinth, Paul wrote, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth."¹⁰ Leaders in the Church do an important work, but it is important to remember that it is God who is at work through them - and sometimes in spite of them. It could be said that Whitefield and Wesley were like Paul and Apollos: Whitefield sowed the seeds, Wesley did the watering, but it was God who made faith grow.

There are two teachers in my Sunday school class: myself and a man named Charles. Charles and I do not agree on everything, but we are still friends and brothers in Christ. I refuse to try to force myself to believe something I don't believe, nor do I expect Charles to try to do that. In fact, I hope that the class has a richer experience because they have two teachers with two different points of view. In my opinion, it is not a teacher's job to tell people what to believe but instead to help people to figure things out for themselves.

John Wesley once said,
Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.¹¹
The Church is made up of many different people with many different beliefs. Despite our differences, we are called to work together for a greater cause, sharing God's love with a world that desperately needs it.

Notes:

See Acts 18-19.
Paul was a staunch Pharisee who experienced a radical conversion. (See Acts 9:1-22.) Apollos seems to have been a follower of John the Baptist. (See Acts 18:24-28.)
1 Corinthians 1:12-13
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Shane Claiborne made this joke in his book Irresistible Revolution.
Don Thorsen. Calvin vs Wesley: Bringing Belief in Line with Practice. 2013, Abingdon Press.
This is my understanding of Wesley and Calvin's views on predestination. Please forgive me if I have built a Calvinist "straw man."
J.D. Walsh. "Wesley Vs. Whitefield." Christianity Today, 04/01/93.
1 Corinthians 3:6 (NRSV)
This quote comes from one of John Wesley's sermons, "Catholic Spirit."