Affiliations (a few thoughts addressed to the Elders of my Church)
Dear Elders,
Here are some thoughts I have in regard to the idea of our church making affiliations with other churches.
The church is the body of Christ. It is one body (I Cor. 12:13). In God’s mind it is not divided. It is the only affiliation of Christians that is mentioned in the Bible. The fellowship that exists in the church is not helped by extra or separate affiliations. There is no thought of those in the Bible. None of the Apostles who wrote instructions to the early church suggested that any of them join a “fellowship” or have affiliations of any kind. They already had the “greatest” affiliation that ever existed and it exists now. That is the body of Christ. All the parts relate to each other in fellowship and in works. This is taught in Romans 12:4&5 and also Romans 12:9–16.
Please look at I Corinthians 12:12–27. Here we have the instructions for everything that the church needs in its interpersonal relations. If these instructions are followed, all the needs of the church are supplied. There is no thought here of a need to join another fellowship or affiliation. These attitudes and behaviours are to take place within the fellowship of the Body of Christ. That is, we look at ALL Christians though the view of I Corinthians 12:12-27. Also, read Ephesians 4:16 and context. Then John 17:20–23 we have Christ himself asking for “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3).
I know that you know these passages and verses very well. Comparing them with the practices of Christians in the various denominations reveals that many act against God’s will to set up a society or group that has a membership of Christians that is smaller than the entire church. We accept these things because Christians have been accepting them for hundreds of years and it is thought that this is normal. It was not in Christ’s mind in John 17. He wanted complete unity.
We sometimes don’t realize that we are taking in a seed of an idea which, when it grows, can bear bad fruit. The idea of having any kind of sub-group, extra-church organization, para-church organization, alliance or affiliation of churches is not in the Bible. The early church did not have any separate groups until heretics caused them. There were Judaizers. There were Antinomians. There were Gnostics. Then there became Catholics and non-Catholics a couple of centuries after Christ ascended. If you remember church history, the Catholics made some decisions very early, which set them apart from those who refused to agree with them. After that came all the hierarchy and abuses that mark that group throughout history. Then the Reformation caused more divisions and after that there was a flood of divisions which left us with so many different “churches” today.
It is warned that there would be schisms or sects in the body (I Cor. 11:17 – 19). People often have wrong ideas, as in Galatians 5:20 where “heresies” can be translated “schools of opinion”. A school of opinion is a group that has decided that they will interpret a certain scripture in a certain way. The interpretation they hold separates them from their brothers and sisters. They are no longer teachable on that subject. Such people are heretics. They draw others away into a separate affiliation and cause a part of the body to be separated and there is a division. There are biblical ways of dealing with this but, historically, churches have not followed them. Solving such a disagreement is very difficult and stressful. Churches that experience such divisions usually just give up and separate into two groups. People who agree with a heretic go off with him and start a new “church”.
So now we have many divisions in the church. Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists (and even among the Baptists, we have Southern Baptists, Regular Baptists, Hard Shell Baptists, Missionary Baptists, and many more others.) These were formed as a result of a disagreement between two or more Christians who felt it would be better to start a new group than to pray until God showed them a way to deal with their argument. New members come in to one of these churches and they don’t know all that is believed by that church. They rarely research to see what ideas may be believed in any group other than the cardinal doctrines. They would probably not realize which doctrines were wrong anyway because they are still babes in Christ. So they are included, without knowing it, into a sub-group of the universal body of Christ. They just adopt their church’s stand and say “our church believes….”
How does our church see itself as different from other evangelical believer groups in the world? Is it that we are not charismatic? Do we hold certain important beliefs that they do not? It has been said that some in our church feel we are the “best” church; that we are the only ones who are really completely right. I totally agree that some of our differences are necessary to maintain the testimony of Christ. I believe that there are many dogmas out there that it would be wrong for us to adopt. They are unscriptural. We need to separate ourselves from these. But does that require us to affiliate with others that agree with us?
When churches form fellowships or affiliations within the frameworks of their denominational beliefs they often have many happy years. But sometimes there are disagreements and divisions within them anyway. No matter how sincere men are in their intentions to keep these affiliations simple and happy, eventually, there is trouble. Maybe the second generation doesn’t have the vision of their parents and it happens then. Also, we often have individuals who like to take control. In an affiliation, this is easy. Manipulation and intimidation is possible when there is an official organization where manipulators and intimidators can work to take control. If our church was a member of such an affiliation, there is no guarantee that it could not happen to us. The whole idea of affiliations is unbiblical. God cannot be asked to bless something that is outside his instructions to us. When we form an affiliation within the body of Christ, we are asking for trouble.
I am not saying that our church has any but the best motives for considering affiliating with a group of some kind. But I think it is unscriptural and dangerous. We can simply just practice the unity that already exists in the body of Christ with our brothers and sisters here and across the globe. We can visit our brothers and sisters in various places, and minister to them, if they will allow us, enjoy their ministry, but please let’s not form, or join, an organization.
I am realistic. I know how Christians behave. Many would not accept the fellowship of our church because of doctrinal differences. We may find it almost impossible to practice the unity that Christ asked for in John 17:20-23 even here in this small town we live in. But we should take that position anyway.
Your brother, who loves you dearly.
Here are some thoughts I have in regard to the idea of our church making affiliations with other churches.
The church is the body of Christ. It is one body (I Cor. 12:13). In God’s mind it is not divided. It is the only affiliation of Christians that is mentioned in the Bible. The fellowship that exists in the church is not helped by extra or separate affiliations. There is no thought of those in the Bible. None of the Apostles who wrote instructions to the early church suggested that any of them join a “fellowship” or have affiliations of any kind. They already had the “greatest” affiliation that ever existed and it exists now. That is the body of Christ. All the parts relate to each other in fellowship and in works. This is taught in Romans 12:4&5 and also Romans 12:9–16.
Please look at I Corinthians 12:12–27. Here we have the instructions for everything that the church needs in its interpersonal relations. If these instructions are followed, all the needs of the church are supplied. There is no thought here of a need to join another fellowship or affiliation. These attitudes and behaviours are to take place within the fellowship of the Body of Christ. That is, we look at ALL Christians though the view of I Corinthians 12:12-27. Also, read Ephesians 4:16 and context. Then John 17:20–23 we have Christ himself asking for “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3).
I know that you know these passages and verses very well. Comparing them with the practices of Christians in the various denominations reveals that many act against God’s will to set up a society or group that has a membership of Christians that is smaller than the entire church. We accept these things because Christians have been accepting them for hundreds of years and it is thought that this is normal. It was not in Christ’s mind in John 17. He wanted complete unity.
We sometimes don’t realize that we are taking in a seed of an idea which, when it grows, can bear bad fruit. The idea of having any kind of sub-group, extra-church organization, para-church organization, alliance or affiliation of churches is not in the Bible. The early church did not have any separate groups until heretics caused them. There were Judaizers. There were Antinomians. There were Gnostics. Then there became Catholics and non-Catholics a couple of centuries after Christ ascended. If you remember church history, the Catholics made some decisions very early, which set them apart from those who refused to agree with them. After that came all the hierarchy and abuses that mark that group throughout history. Then the Reformation caused more divisions and after that there was a flood of divisions which left us with so many different “churches” today.
It is warned that there would be schisms or sects in the body (I Cor. 11:17 – 19). People often have wrong ideas, as in Galatians 5:20 where “heresies” can be translated “schools of opinion”. A school of opinion is a group that has decided that they will interpret a certain scripture in a certain way. The interpretation they hold separates them from their brothers and sisters. They are no longer teachable on that subject. Such people are heretics. They draw others away into a separate affiliation and cause a part of the body to be separated and there is a division. There are biblical ways of dealing with this but, historically, churches have not followed them. Solving such a disagreement is very difficult and stressful. Churches that experience such divisions usually just give up and separate into two groups. People who agree with a heretic go off with him and start a new “church”.
So now we have many divisions in the church. Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists (and even among the Baptists, we have Southern Baptists, Regular Baptists, Hard Shell Baptists, Missionary Baptists, and many more others.) These were formed as a result of a disagreement between two or more Christians who felt it would be better to start a new group than to pray until God showed them a way to deal with their argument. New members come in to one of these churches and they don’t know all that is believed by that church. They rarely research to see what ideas may be believed in any group other than the cardinal doctrines. They would probably not realize which doctrines were wrong anyway because they are still babes in Christ. So they are included, without knowing it, into a sub-group of the universal body of Christ. They just adopt their church’s stand and say “our church believes….”
How does our church see itself as different from other evangelical believer groups in the world? Is it that we are not charismatic? Do we hold certain important beliefs that they do not? It has been said that some in our church feel we are the “best” church; that we are the only ones who are really completely right. I totally agree that some of our differences are necessary to maintain the testimony of Christ. I believe that there are many dogmas out there that it would be wrong for us to adopt. They are unscriptural. We need to separate ourselves from these. But does that require us to affiliate with others that agree with us?
When churches form fellowships or affiliations within the frameworks of their denominational beliefs they often have many happy years. But sometimes there are disagreements and divisions within them anyway. No matter how sincere men are in their intentions to keep these affiliations simple and happy, eventually, there is trouble. Maybe the second generation doesn’t have the vision of their parents and it happens then. Also, we often have individuals who like to take control. In an affiliation, this is easy. Manipulation and intimidation is possible when there is an official organization where manipulators and intimidators can work to take control. If our church was a member of such an affiliation, there is no guarantee that it could not happen to us. The whole idea of affiliations is unbiblical. God cannot be asked to bless something that is outside his instructions to us. When we form an affiliation within the body of Christ, we are asking for trouble.
I am not saying that our church has any but the best motives for considering affiliating with a group of some kind. But I think it is unscriptural and dangerous. We can simply just practice the unity that already exists in the body of Christ with our brothers and sisters here and across the globe. We can visit our brothers and sisters in various places, and minister to them, if they will allow us, enjoy their ministry, but please let’s not form, or join, an organization.
I am realistic. I know how Christians behave. Many would not accept the fellowship of our church because of doctrinal differences. We may find it almost impossible to practice the unity that Christ asked for in John 17:20-23 even here in this small town we live in. But we should take that position anyway.
Your brother, who loves you dearly.
posted by Biblical Christianity at 3:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home