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Chapter Thirteen
Dealing With Our Attitudes
At
the root of the whole problem of church division lies our own cussedness,
our sinful attitudes. We saw earlier that denominationalism encourages
such frames of mind, but of course it is a chicken and egg situation.
Wrong attitudes cause division, and they are also fed by it.
Embracing
all other sinful attitudes is lack
of love, love to God and to one another (Matt. 22:37-40). Our
lack of love to God keeps us from hearing his Word and from being willing
to make radical changes in our values and practices. We would rather keep
the fleeting benefits of denominationalism than to claim by faith the far
greater blessings that come from doing things God's way.
Our
lack of love to one another, which derives from lovelessness toward God,
manifests itself in a number of ways:[1]
1.
Pride, boastfulness, arrogance
(Psm. 10:2, 59:12, 73:6, Prov. 8:13, 11:2, 13:10, 14:3, 16:18,
29:23, Isa. 23:9, 25:11, Jer. 48:29, 49:16, Mark 7:22, I Tim. 3:6,
6:4, I John 2:6): We tend to be look on what God has done in
our denominational fellowships as if it were our own achievement
and as the unique property of our own group. Somehow,
these accomplishments seem to reflect better on ourselves when
there are fewer people to share them with. Conversely, as it
is difficult for us to admit our own errors and faults, it is
very difficult for us to admit such errors and faults in
our denominations .
2.
Contentiousness, discord, strife
(Prov. 13:10, 18:6, 19:13, 21:19, 22:10, 27:15, Hab. 1:3, Rom. 2:8, I Cor.
1:11, 11:16, Phil. 1:16, I Tim. 6:4, Tit. 3:9f): "From pride comes
contention," says the first passage in Proverbs from our group of
references. Because we want glory for ourselves, we seek to find fault in
others. Contentious people are constantly looking for something to
argue about, some way to start controversy and disrupt the peace.
Contentiousness
can be difficult to identify, for one man's contentiousness is another
man's "zeal for the truth." Zeal for the truth is a
virtue, certainly. But one's energetic efforts deserve that title
only when they are grounded in a realistic biblical understanding
of what the truth really is, including the biblical teachings
about unity and about "priorities." A constant insistence
that we achieve perfection in some one area of church life before doing
anything else is not a proper zeal for the truth; rather it is
contentiousness. Dwelling on the faults of other denominations out of
proportion to their importance is contentiousness.
Contentious
people believe the worst about others, frequently taking the statements of
others in the worst possible sense, rather than giving others the benefit
of the doubt ("innocent until proven guilty"). Surely that has
had much to do with the animosities underlying the church's divisions.
Contentiousness
is related to over-sensitivity: when someone says an even slightly
critical word about a contentious person, the latter will rush to defend
himself. He cannot abide the thought of being wrong, or of being thought
wrong by others. Yet there is little consideration for the feelings of
those whom he wishes to criticize. He considers himself free to interpret
their words and deeds in the worst possible sense, while others are
supposed to make all sorts of allowances and excuses for his excesses.
Of such people it is often said, "he can dish it out, but he
can't take it." Such a one will often have a double standard
when evaluating denominations: one standard for his own, another
for the others. He will tend to defend his denomination as he
defends himself, while without justification finding all sorts of
fault with those outside.
It
can be difficult to identify contentiousness in others, at least to
identify it well enough to make them accountable to formal discipline. But
I am confident that Christians can usually recognize it in themselves, if
they call upon the indwelling Spirit to open their eyes. The trouble
is that our pride often keeps us even from considering that we
might be guilty of such a seriously sinful attitude. Let us hear
what the above scriptures have to say to us, as well as the
following which urge positively a gentle and peaceful attitude: II
Sam. 20:19, Zech. 8:19, Matt. 5:9, Gal. 6:1, James 3:17, 5:19, I
Peter 3:11.
3.
Envy, jealousy: (Ex. 20:17,
Prov. 23:17, 27:4, Matt. 27:18, Acts 13:45, 17:5, Rom. 1:29,
Phil.1:15, I Tim. 6:4). Envy is not just a desire to take unjustly
what belongs to others, but it is also what Nietzsche called ressentiment or hatred of others for
their accomplishments and success. It is the reverse side of pride. We
wish to glorify ourselves, and we hate those achievements that allow
others to glorify themselves, perhaps at our expense.
Thus
churches who are strong in teaching but weak in evangelism will often feel
constrained to find some fault in those to whom God has given some
evangelistic success. The reverse is also true, though in my experience to
a lesser degree.
4.
Harshness, the opposite
of gentleness: (Isa. 40:11, II Cor. 10:1, Gal. 5:22, I Thess. 2:7, II
Tim. 2:24, Tit. 3:2, Jas. 3:17, I Pet. 2:18). Harshness exaggerates the
faults and errors of others, both as to the degree of evil and as to the
measures we should take against it.
5.
Xenophobia, snobbery
(rather than welcoming hospitality to other Christians, Rom. 12:13, I
Tim. 3:2, Tit. 1:8, I Pet. 4:9): To be honest, we must admit that we have
a great desire to stay with what is familiar, with our own
people, our own ways of doing things. We don't want to have to deal
with other ethnic or socio-economic groups in the fellowship of
our churches. We don't want to have to deal with the
priority concerns of those in other theological traditions. We don't
want to have to endure challenges from them or to be answerable
to them.
6.
Party spirit (I Cor. 1-3): The partisan mentality, ignoring our
responsibility to love all in the body, prefers to give allegiance only to
its own particular faction, which may be united by respect for
a particular leader or leadership style, or by preference for some doctrinal
or practical emphasis.
7.
Superficiality, immaturity (I Cor. 2:6, 14:20, II
Cor. 13:11, Eph. 4:13f, Phil. 3:12, Col. 1:28, 3:14, 4:12, II Tim. 3:17,
Heb. 12:23, 13:21, I Pet. 5:10): We need to grow in our understanding of
what God's Word says about these issues, willing to be taught, not taking
for granted what we have heard in the past.
8. Anger, wrath, bitterness, vengeance
(Deut. 32:35, Psm. 94:1, Matt. 5:22, Rom. 12:19, Gal. 5:20, Eph. 4:26, 31,
Col. 3:8, 21, Tit. 1:7, Jas. 1:19f): There is godly anger, like the zeal
of Christ for the holiness of God's temple. But usually
scripture presents human anger as a sinful, even murderous lack of
love. Anger seeks to replace God's vengeance with our own. It
holds grudges, refusing to forgive (Matt. 18:21). There is much
of this, I believe, in the movement to perpetuate division in
the church. God says in Scripture that anger should be dealt with quickly. "Do not let the sun go
down while you are still angry," Eph. 4:26. Cf. Matt. 5:23-26,
18:15-20. Reconciliation is a high priority in God's kingdom. But the
nature of unrighteous anger is to indulge itself, to put off
reconciliation, to harbor a grudge.
9.
Ambition, avarice (Tit. 1:7, II Pet. 2:10). Those who are interested in
personal power or advancement often reinforce denominational divisions.
It is easier to achieve prominence (by worldly means) in a
small group than in a large one, easier in a human denomination than
in God's trans-denominational church. Rather than risk the end
of their prominence in the uncertainty inherent in church merger,
influential denominational bureaucrat types often stand in the way
of biblical reunion. This is a large part of the problem; for these are
the types of people most often appointed to ecumenism committees, the ones
who most often must be satisfied with any negotiation.
10.
Lack of openness, honesty (John
15:15). Too often when representatives of different denominations
hold discussions, there is a reticence, an unwillingness to share
what it is that really stands in
the way of union. We need to remember again that in such cases we are
dealing with other Christian brothers and sisters, with whom we can share
family secrets without embarrassment.
In
all these and other ways we sin against God, against others, and violate
the law of love. To put it differently, we create adversary
relationships between ourselves and other believers, seeing them as
enemies to be conquered, rather than as brothers and sisters to
be cherished.
How
good it is to know that, unlike angry and contentious human beings, our
God is a God of love and forgiveness. "If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness," I John 1:9. May this gracious God move us to
confess and receive forgiveness, that forgiveness bought with the blood of
his only Son.
Students
of revival have often said that revival begins with taking sin more
seriously, with people truly mourning over the profundity of their guilt
before God. While I do not believe God authorizes us to go through periods
of bleak despair without a sense of grace, it is certainly true that
we will not appreciate the greatness of our salvation until we
have seen how much our sins have offended God, how truly wretched those
sins are in his sight.
And
I rather think that reunion will not come without revival. Revival does
tend to break down denominational barriers between Christians, though
often in the end those who break free from the old denominations wind up
in a new one! Perhaps true reunion will depend on a revival that does not
die, that does not fossilize itself into a new denominational program.
At
any rate, Jesus' concern for unity demands that we all take a good look at
ourselves, a look which will have beneficial effects in all areas of the
church's ministry.
In
this chapter I have been rather negative, focusing on the bad attitudes
which we should avoid. To balance it, I have included as an Appendix a
very positive treatment, a beautiful little sermon on
"Peacemakers" by my friend Dennis E. Johnson. Please take time
to read it.