Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali on "The Necessity of Unity in Truth for the Church's Mission"

Idleness leads to division

One common characteristic of prophetic leaders in Israel—from Moses to John the Baptist—is their reluctance to take on a task which promised little in the way of comfort and much in the way of hardship. Moses, having grown comfortable tending his father-in-law’s sheep, tried to negotiate his way out of his call to be Israel’s deliverer. Amos, also, would have been content to remain “a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore trees.” Jonah had to spend three days in the belly of a fish before being convinced to go to Ninevah. Jeremiah thought himself too young to be taken seriously. Even Isaiah, before saying, “Here am I. Send me,” was overwhelmed by his unworthiness to stand in the presence of God.

The reluctance of the biblical prophets stands in stark contrast to present-day prophetic wannabes. Claiming the mantle of Elijah seems to have become the last refuge of these ecclesiastical scoundrels in their flagging effort to cling to some semblance of significance at a time when the Christian community (and no small portion of the secular community) has long since seen through their charade. The fact that the vast majority of Christians who read the Bible, regularly attend worship, and say their faith actually influences all aspects of their lives don’t buy their “inclusive” and “tolerant” brand of Christianity is seen by these fading apologists for the old order as proof positive that they are, in fact, being prophetic. After all, they tell us, the prophets of old were also ignored by the majority of the people.

Perhaps some of the old prophets did have a problem getting a fair hearing from the public, but they did not spend most of their time complaining about it. Neither did they constantly go around telling the people to listen to them because they were prophets. Their sole purpose was to proclaim the Word of God, not to call attention to themselves. Jesus could identify John the Baptist as Elijah, but he who said he was unworthy to untie Jesus’ sandals would never make such a claim on his own.

The gift of prophecy ought to be readily apparent to a community endued with the spirit of discernment. If some persons have to keep reminding the community that they are prophets, it is most likely they are no such thing.

Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15-20).

Paul's warning to the Thessalonians is similar (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:6-15). He tells them to be wary of those who seek personal gain without contributing to the edification of the community. "Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," Paul writes, "that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us." Such persons, he says, are "not busy at work, but busybodies." They do not have the best interests of the Body at heart. Their "idleness" will undermine the work of the church and lead to division. From the very beginning, the Evil One's strategy for undermining unity in the body of Christ has begun at the local level. That is no less true today than it was in Paul's day. Division starts within a small group, but it has a tendency to spread to the whole body if it is not confronted directly at its source.

"If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter," Paul writes, "take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed."Such shunning of the idle errant, however, serves the larger purpose of unity in the body, for Paul also says, "Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother."

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Truth and Love Cannot Abide Apart from One Another

There is a world that is passing away and, along with it, all the temporal pleasures and desires which make it something less than the world God intended. But the love of the Father for the world he created endures forever, and that love will abide throughout the world to come. It is the love that already abides in “whoever does the will of God” (1 John 2:17), thus making real in this world that is passing away that world which will never pass away. John writes to those in whom the Father’s love abides in varying degrees (“little children,” “young men,” “fathers”) to encourage them to continue in that love, that they might indeed “abide forever.”

This is what Jesus was praying for when he prayed not only for John and the other apostles, “but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21).

The prayer of Jesus, still fresh in John’s mind when he wrote his epistle, surpasses any mere desire on our part, noble as it may seem, for some kind of organizational unity among believers across denominational or sectarian lines. The unity for which Jesus prays, the unity which manifests God’s glory to the world, is nothing less than incorporation into the divine community itself. “The glory that you have given me I have given to them,” Jesus prays to the Father, “that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:22-23).

This is a unity that goes beyond any human-concocted scheme. It is the union established by the Father before the world began; a bond of eternal love between the Father and the Son, into which are incorporated all to whom the Son has made the Father’s name known, that is, all to whom the Son has imparted the divine nature through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those to whom such a gift is given are the true chosen people of God in whom abides the same Spirit which revealed to Daniel the mystery of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:1-30).

Read it all at Columbia Faith and Culture Examiner.

Abiding in Christ

In Christ, we can do all things to the glory of the Father. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing and, in fact, are nothing. At the end of the day, there is no middle ground. We are either in Christ or apart from Christ. We cannot pretend to live partially in Christ and partially in the world. To abide in the world is to be apart from Christ; a fruitless branch to be taken away by the vindedresser and tossed into the fire. To abide in Christ is to shun the world and its enticements and bear fruit for the kingdom of God.

To abide in Christ, to have his life in us, is to participate in the very life of God. "Abide in me, and I in you," Jesus says. This is union with Christ which makes us one, also, with the Father through the Holy Spirit. The one who so abides in Christ cannot help but bear fruit to the glory of the Father because the same Spirit which is in Christ is also in everyone who abides in Christ. It is for this reason that we were created in the image and likeness of God, that God might be glorified through us. But the fall has cut us off from a perfect relationship with God. The only way to restoration is through Christ.

Read it all at Columbia Faith and Culture Examiner.

Without the Truth, All "Unity" is a Lie

It is a common tactic of revisionists to cast themselves as the tolerant, open-minded heroes in the ongoing battle with bigoted, hateful traditionalists. Both the religious and secular press have proven all too willing to perpetuate this myth. In fact, from the perspective of worldview, there is no real difference between "religious" and "secular," as far as the press is concerned. Both tout the revisionist party line that "unity" is something which can be brought about through accommodation and compromise among disparate factions within the church. Revisionists disingenuously issue calls for "dialogue" and "listening sessions" in which they are required to give up nothing while traditionalists are required to give up all claims to any kind of absolute truth.

Traditionalists easily see through such transparent overtures. Yet, when they reject them for obvious reasons, they are portrayed in the media as the ones with the "Unity be damned" attitude. But the "unity" sought by revisionists and their media allies ought rightly to be "damned," because it is no unity at all. In the Church of Jesus Christ, unity is not a matter of political accommodation. Unity in the Church can only be rooted in the truth. A "unity" not rooted in the truth is, at best, an illusion and, at worst, a demonic deception.

The truth must be the basis for unity in the church because it is the truth which draws the church together as one body, bound by one Spirit, being of one mind, and singularly focused on the one mission of gathering all the disparate peoples of the world into one under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Without the truth as its basis, all "unity" is a lie.

There is but one truth which binds the church together. That truth has a name. That name is Jesus. We can accept no imitations.