On speaking terms

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 08:16:44 -0400

Though Synod ended about six weeks ago, the events of the Pre-Synod Conference and the Meeting of General Synod are still fresh in my mind. Therefore, please indulge me the privilege of some personal reflections on our 204th annual meeting.

From Monday evening, June 9 through Thursday, June 12, we were unusually blessed by the mighty preaching of God’s Word, outstanding music from God’s Word, and wonderful fellowship inspired by God’s Word.

The business before us covered ground from routine to significant matters and from little discussion to lengthy debate on a variety of issues. While I’m about “parliamentary procedured out,” I recognize the immense privilege afforded me to have rubbed shoulders with such men as those attending Synod last week.

Within Christ’s body, it can be difficult to measure the strength of our unity when we agree on every issue. However, when the stakes are high – when matters of real substance and complexity are being addressed – and disagreements ensue, we can begin to get an accurate reading on the gauge of our unity in the faith.

Even in the face of some weighty issues and spirited debate, I was unusually blessed to observe a pervading aura of love and respect for one another among the pastors and elders on the floor of Synod.

Unity Among Brothers
God makes it abundantly clear about the significance of unity among fellow believers. Psalm 133:1 exhorts, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”

Commenting on this verse, C.H. Spurgeon in the Treasury of David writes, “We can dispense with uniformity if we possess unity: oneness of life, truth, and way; oneness in Christ Jesus; oneness of object and spirit – these we must have, or our assemblies will be synagogues of contention rather than churches of Christ.”

The love I experienced and observed last week among the brothers can be used as a springboard to our entire year! Can we take the value of this kind of unity and spend it across the board in our local fellowships?

What about you and me? Are we on speaking terms with our brothers and sisters in Christ? I mean, if someone offends us or disagrees with us through words, or actions, or even by a position taken on a given subject, are we prone not to talk to him or her again?

Ephesians 4:3 exhorts us to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Jesus even challenges us to elevate the virtue of unity in unparalleled fashion. In John 13: 34-35, He states it this way: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”

Unity for Christ’s Sake
We know our Father is as concerned about how His children deal with disagreements or conflicts among themselves as He is about the merits of the issue that separates them. If you are like me, it can be easy to dismiss unity as a rather nebulous, less-than-concrete kind of quality to apply.

This becomes especially true when I am intent on presenting a view about something I believe to be of substance to the Lord. Sometimes I would rather be right than be concerned about loving my brother during the confrontation.

It astounds me to think that our Lord God, resplendent in perfection and holiness, would ever desire to communicate with us fallen, sinful creatures.

Yet it didn’t prevent His speaking to us through His written Word. Neither did it stop God from initiating further conversation with us through His Son, the Word Incarnate.
And as if neither of these was enough, Christ dwells among us today by His Spirit and continues to make His Word known to us.

In spite of our gross offences toward Him, God amazingly initiates these three modes of speech.

Sometimes, however, you and I fail to speak in love to our brothers and sisters in the faith when they have offended us or disagreed with us. Jesus never discourages our disagreeing with other believers or speaking out on issues dear to His heart, but He does command us to show the world we are Christ’s followers by our love for one another.

Unity for unity’s sake appears noteworthy at times in the eyes of the world, but unity for Christ’s sake always brings glory to our Father in heaven.

ARPMagazine.org

On speaking terms