“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” The words of Psalm 133:1 have been on my mind a lot lately. We have been blessed here at Faith with a strong unity, by God’s grace. Over the past seven and a half years, the Elders have strived to serve together in unity. That doesn’t mean that we have always agreed on every matter that we have considered. After all, we are not robots! In those instances where we have had differences of opinion that could not be resolved, we have chosen not to move forward. Sometimes, preserving unity means setting aside one’s own preferences.
That is an important distinction to make, however, when we speak about maintaining unity within the Body of Christ. Each one of us has preferences: music styles, preaching styles, Bible translations, and so forth. Often, these are neither right nor wrong. For instance, one person may prefer more contemporary, upbeat worship music while another prefers older hymns. Provided that the music glorifies God and does not teach unbiblical concepts, one’s preference of a musical style should not cause division within the Body. Rather, we should be thankful that glorifying worship music is being produced in a variety of styles that cause our hearts to focus on Christ!
Unity, however, must never be the ultimate goal, especially if we prioritize it over Truth (Martin Luther once said, “Peace if possible; truth at all costs”). This is where we need to be able to distinguish between preference and doctrine. Our doctrine must always be derived from God’s Word alone because it alone is the only infallible, inerrant authority for our faith (sola Scriptura). Our feelings, our wisdom, and our experiences must always be subjected to Scripture, not the other way around. When there is a disagreement between brothers and sisters on a matter of doctrine, there should be an immediate desire on both parties to ask, “What does the Bible say about this?” If the difference pertains to a fundamental doctrine of the faith (such as the divinity of Christ, the nature of the Trinity, or the exclusivity of salvation through Christ alone), then unity is not possible because we do not share the same faith that was “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). There are some other doctrines (e.g., the mode of baptism, the ability of women to serve as elders, local church governance) that, while not affecting one’s salvation, are still serious enough to divide us into different denominations. Then, there are those doctrines on which believers can disagree and remain even within the same local church (e.g., views on the rapture, frequency of Communion). In these latter two instances, there is still room for unity among the brethren.
As our society continues its decline, the unity of believers – even when they differ on some important, but not fundamental, doctrines – will be all the more important. The world has always been hostile towards those who belong to Christ (think about John 15:18-20), but in the Holy Spirit we have received a tremendous blessing to counter that persecution: unity within the Body. May our unity and love for one another grow and be a testimony of our faith (John 13:34-35).
Soli Deo Gloria,
Pastor Roy
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