How Christians Can Unite Around the Gospel, While Celebrating the Good in Our Differences

All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995 Ed. (NASB95)

In C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, the inhabitants of Narnia are all different sorts of animals and mythical creatures. He describes nearly any animal you can imagine, from tiny birds to gigantic lions, and everything in between. Among the mythical beasts, he includes centaurs, man-headed bulls, satyrs, and forest spirits. In his story, they have much diversity of appearance and function, yet many of them serve the same ultimate purpose – do the will of their King, Aslan.

This is a fitting picture of the diversity in unity of the Christian family of God. We have many different preferences, cultures, practices, ministries, and giftings, but one and the same purpose of glorifying our God and King. It seems that in recent years, the body of Christ in the West has grown in our acceptance and appreciation of each other’s vast differences. In particular, I think of the many evangelical conferences that have brought a wide array of different denominations and traditions together. For example, we could think of Together for the Gospel, which has enabled all sorts of Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals, Lutherans, and Anglicans (among others) to meet together for service, praise-singing, and Bible study. I can also think of Ligonier Ministries, which has united different types of teachers, as well as Shepherd’s Conference and a host of other events and organizations that have brought diverse groups of Christians together.

The Priority of Unity

Yet there are still pockets of the body of Christ that believe they have the monopoly on truth, and all other sects are radically inferior to them. This betrays a spirit of pride and sectarianism that’s condemned all throughout the New Testament. As servants of the Lord Jesus, we ought to strive to carry out the instructions of Paul to the Ephesians:

“. . . walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” – Eph. 4:1b-3

The challenge is to answer the question of how this can be done when we are separated by denominations, beliefs, and churches. The main answer is given in Paul’s next sentence:

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” – Eph. 4: 4-6

This declaration of faith ought to be etched on the tablet of our minds. There’s a famous quotation from Augustine of Hippo that says,

“In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity.”

This is the motto by which we should think about the different Christians that surround us. Of course, we ought to make absolutely certain that a congregation believes in the same God, the same Jesus, and the same salvation. But if they share these biblical convictions with us, we ought to embrace them as our brethren in Christ Jesus. Why again? Because there’s only one body of Christ; one Spirit of God; one Lord; one faith of the gospel; one baptism into Christ; and one Father of Christians. If a congregation believes and confesses the message of God’s Son made man to die for our sins, rise from the dead, reign over the universe, and grant salvation from His eternal judgment through faith, then we need to be willing to pursue unity with them.

Anglicans and Baptists Unite!

What does that look like? I’ll give you an example from this past Sunday. Due to a severe snowstorm, my assembly cancelled our meeting together, so I decided to attend another one. I’m a staunch low-church, Baptistic, and anti-clergy man (not anti-pastor). Yet I saw the best option for my weekly fellowship and communion as the Reformed Anglican church down the street.

Despite the fact that I’m vehemently opposed to formalist, ritualistic and Catholic-like practices, I was still able to attend both their Sunday school, and their entire hour and a half liturgical service. And enjoy it. I think they’re misguided and in error in their view of the local fellowship and its practices, but I was delighted to think about, remember, recite, and sing rich truths from God’s Word, and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with them. Because we’re united on the essentials, and if I have no better option than to gather with them for encouragement, then I’m going to meet with them for their encouragement. We serve the same Master, and are promoting the same kingdom, but in very different ways.

Discussing Our Differences

But here’s where many believers fail – they’re okay with other stripes of Christians doing their own thing, but they make no efforts to question their differing views, or attempt to share what they believe to be more Scriptural. So here’s what I was able to do when I met with the Anglican church – I had a very friendly and encouraging discussion with one of their members about where we differ in our doctrines of church. I was able to point some of them to where I believe they’re following one of the major errors that corrupted Christ’s body from the 3^rd century AD. And I was able to explain how Scripture provides a different, and better model for how local fellowships should view and conduct themselves. I didn’t seem to convince anyone of my perspective, but it was a start, and it encouraged all of us to better understand Scripture, and to more diligently obey its teachings.

This is part of what it means to diligently preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We should be willing to worship together, and also willing to hash out our differences together. There will be little progress in coming to greater agreement on Scripture’s teachings if we refuse to discuss our disagreements. But our comprehensive unity is the goal of our work on earth, as Paul goes on to describe in Ephesians 4:

“. . . for the equipping of the saints for the work of service . . . until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God . . .” – Eph. 4:12a, 13a

Appreciating Our Differences

But while we’re engaged in this pursuit of unity of faith and knowledge, we ought to still appreciate the goodness in our differences. Although I believe Anglicans are wrong in their view of church, yet I’m still encouraged by their service of the Lord in their Anglican ways. Besides them, many other denominations have rich and encouraging documents, confessions, creeds, catechisms, and practices. Just because I believe they’re wrong on many things, doesn’t mean I can’t learn from the way they’re worshiping Jesus.

This appreciation of differences goes beyond denominational beliefs and practices. It also applies to our relationships with our brethren among our own fellowships. The New Testament is emphatic that each believer is essential to every other, and that no believer in a given congregation is just like any other. Each person is uniquely gifted with specific skills, talents, knowledge, backgrounds, vocations, personality, and physical structure that make them perfect for the role they play in encouraging and serving other brethren. As Paul warned the Corinthians, we shouldn’t look down on another believer because they’re gifted to do something entirely different from us. Rather, we should honor them as an essential part of the body of Christ, and encourage them to use whatever ability they have to stir up other believers toward love and good deeds (Heb. 10:25).

Like the varied animals in the kingdom of Narnia, we should work together in our own ways to promote our mutual Christlikeness and proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom. Let’s pray that we’ll be more diligent to preserving our unity in love, celebrating our agreement on the gospel, and building each other up through loving discussion about the important matters on which we differ. For all who believe in Christ are bearers of Jesus, and His message of salvation for the ends of the earth. “In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity (or love).”