Unify
Part 4 of Personify Faith
Introduction
Our study of edification showed us the need for Christian community, but how do we navigate community when it is often divided?
I feel like this is a topic I could write an entire study on! Much of my upbringing led me to develop a “connector” mindset. I grew up in a state capital city where new administrations would take over every 4-8 years. The state government was the largest employer in town, thus citizens learned to navigate political swings. I remember asking my dad once if he was going to vote for a candidate that we knew. He told me that while he respected the person, their opinions on the role of the government were different and so he would probably not vote for him. There were no charged words, no bashing of ideologies, no political rants. We knew in our small town that you would have to find a way to get along and live together. This, along with attending an ecumenically-minded Disciples of Christ church, encouraged me to look for points of connection rather than difference.
My background has led me to take what a friend of mine refers to as “radical center” position. While it is pretty radical not to take sides in a rapidly polarizing world, my “radical center” focuses on Jesus as the “radical center.” C. S. Lewis best described this idea in Mere Christianity when discussing the evil one: “He always sends errors into the world in pairs—pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between both errors. We have no other concern that that with either of them.” I look to be part of communities that place Jesus in the center and move towards him, even if their starting places are very different. As theologian James H. Evans, Jr. says, “Jesus is the center of the church. That is, the church is that community that is centered in Christ. It does not possess Christ, but is possessed by Christ. Thus the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ center and circumscribe the community called church. Because Jesus is the ground of human liberation, the church is centered in the project of human liberation.” Our acts of unification lead to liberation of all those that are oppressed.
As we attempt this week to unify the Church, I do not mean that every church will look the same with the perfect demographic mixture of people theologically, racially, economically, or by age and gender. Different styles of churches are needed to reach a wide variety of contexts. Churches did not all look the same in the century following Jesus’s resurrection, and they should not be carbon copies today. Churches are contextual, but it does not mean that we cannot ally ourselves in service and fellowship with congregations that are different from our own. Instead, as St. Augustine wrote, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
This type of charity is not giving money to others like we think today, but a Christian love for each other. It is a type of love with a humble heart that submits to one another in mutual understanding. This type of love is inherent in our belief in a triune God—Creator, Savior, Sustainer all in perpetual relationship with one another. One of the most well-known images of this is Andrei Rublev’s The Trinity.
Each of the three persons of the trinity respectfully inclines toward the other in love and deference. There is an equality and unity that reminds us that at its very core Christianity is a religion based on intimate relationship. The Divine itself exists in internal relationship. Since we, too are made in that image, relationships should be one of our top priorities.
I believe there are three key elements to being unifiers: proximity, humility (including repentance), and forgiveness. Each of these is necessary to make vibrant, authentic, and whole communities of believers. If we are not in proximity to people that are different from us, we will never be able to gain the understanding and wisdom needed to join with them. For many of us, “proximity” to those that are different from us may have come through travel or even a service opportunity in the past. Surprisingly, service can be very divisive—us versus them, wealthy versus poor, locals versus outsiders, “haves” verses “have nots.” Richard Foster warns that sometimes we fall into the trap of “self-righteous” service where we swoop in to help people out to make ourselves feel better. So how do we know if we are serving from a true place of love? For me, the difference is if at the heart of our service is a desire to unify our communities. Foster states simply: “True service builds community.” If our goal is to unify, to draw closer to, rather than to remind of differences, then we express a true heart of service. To unify means to give up some of our “me-ness” in place of “us-ness.” This is where humility comes into play.
The only way as Christians, though, to set aside our own needs and desires is to draw nearer to Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says in Life Together: “For Jesus Christ alone is our unity. ‘He is our peace.’ Through him alone do we have access to one another, join one another, and fellowship with one another.” The final part of the unification process involves reconciliation which is a direct result of humble repentance and loving forgiveness. Martin Luther King, Jr. shared these words in Strength to Love: “Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning. It is the lifting of a burden or the cancelling of a debt.” May we learn this week how to move forward in a spirit of love, repentance, and acceptance, and join as one true body of Christ. Let us understand that the fastest way to span the chasms that divide us is to walk together on the narrow way that leads to God.
“Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.” --C.S. Lewis
Day of Preparation
Opening Prayer
Dear God,
Open our hearts and minds today to receive a vision of your unified kingdom. Help us to see blind spots in our own understanding and learn from new voices. We know that as we move closer to each other we move closer to you. Amen.
Scriptural Teachings
One of the most quoted Bible verses in my own home is Psalm 133: “How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Translation: “Will you all please just get along!” While I use it to remind adolescent boys that we are supposed to be nice to each other, I can also see God looking down on us and saying the same thing, “Will you all please just get along!” From the beginning of creation, God intended for us to live in relationship. In Genesis 2:18, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” Created in the image of a triune God, we were built for community. God begins by identifying with one group of people through his servant Abram, but God explains to Abram in Genesis 12 that “all peoples of the earth will be blessed through you” (verse 3). God’s ultimate plan was to use this one group as a tool to unify and bless all the peoples of the world.
After the kingdom divides and the Israelites are scattered in exile, God uses Ezekiel to proclaim: “I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land” (Ezekiel 37:21). The Lord provided the people a pathway back to each other from the many different cultures in which they had been living. They were all drawn back to their home base where God said, “I will spring clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and form all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove for you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:25-26). God’s heart is for unity centered upon love.
The early church was not immune to division either. The book of Acts recounts many different controversies over use of money, care of the poor, circumcision, clean and unclean foods, Jewish rituals, use of spiritual gifts…the list goes on and on. Most of the Paul’s letters address some sort of obstacle or controversy that could potentially be divisive. At times, like in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he must downright chastise groups for believing false teachings. Any leader that seeks to sow division in the body of Christ is not from God. He reminds them that all Christians are clothed with Christ, thus: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28). We are all heirs, caretakers of the precious world that God has given to us. We are responsible for working together to ensure this inheritance to future generations. We know where we are supposed to get to, but how do we get there? How do we recognize false teachers that are attempting to divide the body of Christ?
One of my favorite images in the Bible is in Revelation 7:9 where John describes the great gathering: “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” In this image, we can see God and Jesus looking out over all the people, a perfect book-end to Genesis where God created all humans in God’s image. Latasha Morrison, author of Be the Bridge, says, “The truth is that each ethnicity reflects a unique aspect of God’s image. No one tribe or group of people can adequately display the fullness of God. The truth is that it takes every tribe, tongue, and nation to reflect the image of God in his fullness. The truth is that race is a social construct, one that has divided and set one group over the other from the earliest days of humanity. The Christian construct, though, dismantles this way of thinking and seeks to reunite us under a common banner of love and fellowship.” As Christians, we must seek justice for our brothers and sisters in Christ from different groups because we need them to show the fullness of God to the world. If they are not in a place of health, wellness, or safety, the body of Christ, which Paul explains in Corinthians, is in jeopardy. No one would have cancer in one body part and not treat it because it was not in all the body parts. No, we would actively pursue healing in that one area because we know it is vital to the health of the entire body. We cannot fool ourselves that hurting or pain in one area of the body of Christ does not flow through the entirety. Where else are there words of unity in the Bible?
Wisdom from the Past
When I think of three voices from the 20th century that spoke to unifying the body of believers through proximity, humility and forgiveness, Walter Rauschenbusch, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King Jr. immediately come to mind. It is instructive to examine how each approached unifying the body of Christ. In the late 1800s, amid the squalor of the packed tenements and crime-infested streets of Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, Walter Rauschenbusch, a minister at Second Baptist Church, saw first-hand the depravity of society. As he buried small children who had perished from hunger and disease, he developed a way of looking at humanity as a collective unit. Rauschenbusch’s focus on society, rather than the individual, as the moral agent was a reaction to an increasing privatization of religion in America.
In Theology of the Social Gospel, Rauschenbusch expressed his view of humanity: humans, as reflections of divine love, were designed to work together to overcome collective, systemic sin and, thereby, help bring about the kingdom of God on earth. People should no longer care only for their personal salvation. They should serve in the community to care for the poor and oppressed as Jesus would have done. In liberating the oppressed, the oppressor was also liberated from the power of sin. Proximity was key, though. Rauschenbusch opened the door for other thinkers and had a great influence in New York City and other urban areas. Who do you know who lives a life of proximity to unify the body of Christ? Do you spend time in proximity with people that are different from you or are you in a bubble of comfort with people that are generally like you?
A few years after Rauschenbusch’s death, in the early 1920s, with the social gospel still resonating through the city in the black churches of Harlem, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young German theologian arrived for a study abroad experience at Union Theological Seminary. While he was not overly impressed by the seminary experience, he was captivated by the churches in Harlem and how they preached a Christ that stood with those on the margins of society. Scholar Reggie Williams writes in his book Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus that Bonhoeffer determined that the “privileges that guard some Christians from experiencing oppression may also keep them from seeing oppression or suffering as matters within the scope of Christian moral responsibility.” Williams explains that for Bonhoeffer, “Christians must see society from the perspective of marginalized people since faithful Christianity is calibrated from the perspective of suffering rather than from dominance.” Bonhoeffer took this ethic with him back to Germany where he identified the plight of black America with the persecution of the Jews by the new Nazi party. He spoke out against the German church for standing with those in power rather than those in need. Williams writes “Bonhoeffer’s incarnational ethics model describes Christ as humanity free from bondage to a self-love that would inhibit ability to know and value a neighbor’s needs as one’s own.” We must humble ourselves by putting the interests of the weak ahead of our own and repent when we have been self-serving. Bonhoeffer embodied this completely by teaching at an underground seminary, supporting the Confessing Church that stood in opposition to the Nazis, and eventually dying in a concentration camp after his arrest for continuing to work against the Nazi regime. Can you think of other examples of Christians living a life of humility? Do you have things that you might need to repent to other Christians about?
Finally, if there was anyone that could understand the power of forgiveness to unify communities, it was Martin Luther King. He knew that his words would probably lead to his own death. The threats were numerous and severe, but he preached non-violence and reconciliation to the very end. In Strength to Love, he wrote about how to navigate the middle ground to move forward peacefully but with purpose: “Time is cluttered with the wreckage of communities which surrendered to hate and violence. From the salvation of our nation and salvation of mankind, we must follow another way. This does not mean that we abandon our righteous efforts. With every ounce of our energy we must continue to ride this nation of the incubus of segregation. But we shall not in the process relinquish our privilege and our obligation to love.” Here he is calling for continued love of the people he knew might very well, and indeed did, kill him. Who has boldly forgiven to build the church back together more strongly? Is there anyone that you need to forgive?
Closing Blessing
May our Lord Jesus Christ,
who prayed that we would be one,
even as he and the Father are one,
so grace you with his Spirit
that you may grow in grace and fellowship
and discover joy in walking together as part of Christ’s body—
so that the world may know of God’s love for us in Christ.
Day of Action
Opening Prayer
Dear God,
It is never easy to admit when we have been wrong or naïve about things. Give us a humble heart to set aside our story and to pursue the stories of others. We understand that we will never unify the church if we do not set aside our own agendas and listen to the needs of others. Amen.
Scriptural Reflection
Begin today by examining the following scripture verses that discuss unity. Jot down a central thought of each passage.
Matthew 28:18-20
John 17:20-24
Ephesians 2:11-22
Ephesians 4:1-6
Why do you think we cannot live well together when God asks us often to live as one?
Call to Action
Faith formation leader and author Craig Dykstra says, “Living in Christian community does not mean living only with others like us. It does not even mean living with an attitude of friendliness toward strangers. It involves actual hospitality to the stranger—face-to-face encounter in which the stranger is given hospice, protection from danger and threat, and in which the stranger is welcomed into one’s own home and life as if she or he could be nothing else but neighbor.” Many of us are fine with being pleasant or cordial to others if we have nothing to lose. Without any “skin in the game,” it is easy enough for us to listen for a bit and then move back into our normal rhythms of life.
In his book The Making of an Ordinary Saint, Nathan Foster uses the example of activist Jane Addams (1860-1935) to illustrate this principle. Jane was from a well-to-do family and was used to giving to charity. However, she saw through the years that just giving money, food, or clothing was not enough to transform the lives of the people in need. Instead, she founded the Hull House in a multiracial neighborhood of Chicago. There she gave of herself daily, helping people to meet basic needs but also get an education and find employment. She understood that to help people she had to be with the people. Do you have any “skin in the game” or are you an observer from afar? How can you better practice proximity? What might you need to humble yourself and repent for? Who might you need to forgive?
This week we can practice proximity, humility, and forgiveness as means to unify. We may not be able to be physically present with someone different from ourselves but there are many ways we can connect in a virtual space.
Research to understand more about the life of someone with different views than you within the church
Pray each day this week for someone with opposing views to yours
Listen to a podcast such as “Be the Bridge”, “The Liturgists”, or “Pantsuit Politics”
Watch Mellody Hobson’s TED Talk: Color blind or color brave?
Watch Christina Cleveland’s lecture on “Diversity in the Church” on YouTube
Watch Sandra Van Opstal’s presentation on “Worship and Justice” on YouTube
Watch Soong-Chan Rah discuss “Racial/Nationalization of the Image” on YouTube
Read Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison about racial justice in the church
Become a mentor through Families Forward or another organization
Work with a nonprofit that serves with dignity and respect
Watch online the church service or teachings of a faith leader of a different denomination, gender, race, or ethnicity
Go to an area of town that is different from where you currently live and try a new restaurant or park. Observe, consider, and pray for the lives of the people in that place.
Follow the social media accounts of faith voices outside your usual bubble. Make sure all backgrounds are represented. Seek to understand why as a follower of Christ might feel this way rather than dismiss their side outright
Extend forgiveness to someone
Ask God to reveal any tribalism in you that pulls you away from your Christian walk
Join the CBF-NC (or other denominational organization) Racial Equity and Justice team:
https://cbfnc.org/embrace/racial-reconciliation-and-justice/
Closing Blessing
The Holy Spirit builds one church,
united in one Lord and one hope,
with one ministry around one table.
The Spirit calls all believers in Jesus
to respond in worship together,
to learn from each other’s traditions,
to make unity visible on earth.
Day of Reflection
Opening Prayer
Dear God,
Help me live so that others can feel your presence through me. Give me the strength and courage to go into unfamiliar territory to practice the art of reconciliation and unification. Let me set aside my own wants to be attentive to the needs of others. Amen.
Reflection
Begin today by writing about your action experience this week. How do you feel this activity helped you unify the body of Christ? Is there something you might be able to sustain in this area on a long-term basis? Other things you want to examine? What preconceived notions do you have that need to be challenged?
Modern Perspectives
There are two difficult parts of this type of unifying work: admitting where we have been naïve and where we have been wrong. We are all naturally going to operate out of our own world-view. It is all we may have known in our lives. Until we intentionally seek out voices different from our own, we may not even know what we do not know. For me, this is what the divinity school experience has been. I had been wearing blinders, looking straight ahead, and not even knowing it. It is not that what I had been doing was necessarily wrong or off track, it was that it was so limited when God wants us to live expansive lives. Educator Parker Palmer describes it this way: “If we embrace the promise of diversity, of creative conflict, and of “losing” I order to “win” we still face one final fear—the fear that a live encounter with otherness will challenge or even compel us to change our lives.” Where have you felt uncomfortable this week? Is something challenging your long-held assumptions? Have you tied up your identity tightly with something beyond your faith? How could you let go of that?
Giving up long held assumptions, positions, and habits is difficult, but it is also freeing. It allows true spiritual curiosity to grow which takes us to a new level of faith. It is not an easy process to admit where we might have been wrong. Parker Palmers explains that “Many of us are so deeply identified with our ideas that when we have a competitive encounter, we risk losing more than the debate: we risk losing our sense of self.” When our sense of self is tied up in anything other than the love of God and neighbor, it is a sense we need to cast off. I like how author Shannan Martin puts it: “It’s time for us to wear the humility of Jesus like a secondhand coat, ready to hear from people further along the road. We’ve got to stop insisting on our own way and believing we know best. As we commit to listening closely to the people around us, we need to invite correction and ask forgiveness when necessary.” Who have you spent meaningful time with this week that shares a perspective different from your own? Have you created such a bubble or echo chamber around yourself that there is no one to challenge your assumptions? How can releasing your personal agenda allow for greater unity in the church?
In conclusion, I love this image that Shannan Martin shares of what a unified church might look like. “I pray that we’ll all go down together, arms linked, hoarse from shouting on behalf of those found at the short end of justice. I pray that down at street level, we’ll feel the tremor of God’s power and decide, once and for all, that our feet were made for low places and worthy battles.” It makes me think of the end of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech where all of God’s children have joined hands and are singing “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”
There are many groups doing this unifying work in the world today such as the Taize community. This is a global movement centered in France that works for the unification of Christians across all countries, denominations, and ethnic groups. It was founded in a monastic community that centered itself on reconciliation. Intercessory prayer is an important part of the way the community comes together. Their website contains prayers for each week of the liturgical calendar. We will close this week with their prayer of intercession for “Time of the Church 12”:
Risen Christ, you fill our lives with your compassion so that we may always seek you.
Risen Christ, you know our longing: lead us on the path of eternity.
Risen Christ, we pray to you for those who are just beginning to know you.
Risen Christ, we pray to you for those who cannot believe: your love is always offered.
Risen Christ, you are the support of those who encounter difficulties and discouragement: lead us on the path of eternity.
Risen Christ, we pray to you for those who have been victims of violence and humiliation: come to heal their wounds.
Risen Christ, you guide us by your Spirit: gather all the nations into your Kingdom.
Closing Blessing
Blessed are communities
in which hospitality is practiced
in both public worship and in personal lives,
where strangers and guests are welcomed and embraced,
where the poor and marginalized, diseased and forsaken,
can find refuge under the shadow of God’s wings.
Blessed are the communities
in which all people are invited and challenged to become disciples of Jesus,
receiving baptism and formation in the faith.
Sources
Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr.
We Have Been Believers: An African American Systematic Theology by James H.
Evans, Jr.
Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and Ethic of Resistance
by Reggie Williams
Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer
Ministry of Ordinary Places by Shannan Martin
The Making of an Ordinary Saint by Nathan Foster
Robbins, Anna. "Something in Common?: The Human Person as Moral Agent in Individual and Corporate Expression." The Evangelical Quarterly 78, no. 4 (2006): 313-40.
https://www.taize.fr/en_article5806.html
http://www.holy-transfiguration.org/library_en/lord_trinity_rublev.html
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm