One of the many things that has been on the hearts and minds of our elders over the last couple of months is how to maintain unity in the body of Christ during a season where the body of Christ is not gathering.
Have you ever had a disagreement with someone you love over the phone? Whether it was with your spouse or a friend or perhaps even an adult family member, chances are there was ample opportunity for miscommunication and misunderstanding. Phone calls don’t allow us to truly hear the heart behind one anothers’ opinions. Neither do emails, social media posts and tweets, or even Zoom calls and the like. There is no substitute for in-person discussions to truly hear one another explain our positions and reaffirm our love for one another.
Miscommunication and extended physical separation can breed disunity in any relationship, and the church is no different. Our church has not been able to gather physically since mid-March (nearly two months ago). All of our physical gatherings have migrated to online expressions (Facebook Live, Zoom, etc.). Admittedly, the opportunity for miscommunication and misunderstanding has been diminished simply because we are not communicating as much. Nevertheless, as we all consider what it will look like to begin regathering again, the potential for misunderstanding one another can pose a real threat to our unity. While we all long to meet again physically on our church campus (and in one anothers’ homes), not everyone will agree on the when and the how of this regathering. We must relearn how to disagree with one another even on important subjects like this while vigorously guarding our unity. Doing this while separated physically will require us to let the Lord direct our minds and hearts.
Here are some things we can keep in mind as we seek to fight for unity during this pandemic:
Focus on our unity in the Gospel
Though we may disagree on when to regather and how to do so, let us remember that our unity is founded on something much deeper. Our unity in the gospel of Jesus Christ is the bedrock upon which everything else is built. Paul describes this unity to the believers in the church at Ephesus:
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
The beauty of our unity in the gospel is that it’s not something that we need to build, it is something that has already been built by Christ’s atoning sacrifice at Calvary. We don’t need to erect this unity; we just need to maintain the unity that already exists. When we disagree about reopening physical gatherings, may our common faith in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and our common bond in God’s grace be the anchors that keep our church relationships solid and unassailable.
Hear one another’s hearts and reject straw man arguments
Our decision to not conduct physical gatherings during this time has been motivated by three Biblical imperatives:
Do not forsake the gathering of God’s people (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Submit to the governing authorities (Rom. 13:1-7)
Love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:25-37)
These three commands were instrumental in leading us to make the decision to cancel physical gatherings a couple of months ago, and they remain helpful guiding principles today as we navigate the how and when of re-gathering. I think all of us can agree that we desire to obey each of these commands and that we long to regather. While our government may have lifted the shelter-in-place order, a “love for neighbor” will still require us to consider what impact our regathering will have on the elderly, medically vulnerable, and the health care system in our community. These concerns are real and complex, and though we hold them in tension, they are not mutually exclusive.
Just because someone thinks that we should wait longer before we begin on-campus services doesn’t mean that they don’t care about the gathering of God’s people. They may have very real and legitimate reasons for not gathering yet. Conversely, just because someone thinks that we should begin gathering as soon as possible, doesn’t mean that they don’t care about the elderly or medically vulnerable in our community. Social media only adds fuel to this bonfire. We see ample posts and tweets every day that use issues like this to divide us from one another. As followers of Christ seeking to uphold the unity of the church, we should be very cautious about “liking”, “sharing” or “retweeting” these sorts of divisive comments, much less posting them ourselves.
Allow one another to disagree
Because the imperatives above are not mutually exclusive, and because we have a common unity in the gospel, we should graciously allow others in the body of Christ to disagree. Whenever we are able to regather physically, we should prepare ourselves for the reality that not everyone will be present. I’ve missed each of our members so much that I’ve built up the eventual regathering of our saints in my mind as some kind of “rapture on earth” where we will all be together celebrating and singing and taking communion together, embracing one another and greeting one another with a kiss. Okay, maybe not that last part, but it’s been built up in my mind as an unrealistic picture of what will probably happen. Many of our folks will not feel comfortable gathering whenever we do re-start public services, and we should be extraordinarily gracious with one another as we all make decisions that we believe are best for us and our families. Whether it’s because they are elderly or medically vulnerable, or whether they believe that it simply is not best to resume public gatherings yet, let us be compassionate and understanding as we’re all navigating a pandemic for the first time.
Remember that God is making all things new
I know it seems like it’s been an eternity already, but it’s only been a couple of months. An while this pandemic may stretch into the summer and beyond, it will end. Maybe we’ll discover that some of the aspects of our quarantine-life will become the “new normal” as we live in a world where novel viruses can wreak death a havoc on humanity – but don’t fall into the secular viewpoint that this world is all there is. This world and everything about it is temporary. Eternity awaits all of us. This world is full of sin and evil and suffering, but it is passing away. The new heaven and the new earth – where sin and evil and suffering will be no more – is closer today than it was yesterday.
And so, let us find comfort and solace in John’s vision of this end,
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Rev. 21:1-5)
Church – let’s keep fighting for unity as we consider our re-gathering as a church. Let’s focus on the unity we have in the gospel, hear and believe the heart behind one another’s decisions, graciously give room for one another to disagree, and remind one another that this too shall pass.
Written by Ken Rucker