"Only conduct yourselves in
a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether
I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you
that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel.”
Philippians 1:27
Over the past few months I
have received many phone calls and emails like the
following:
"I need some advice; I have
been told that I am a bad influence on the congregation
and that I am dividing the body of Christ. What happened
was that our pastor decided to change the church to the
seeker sensitive model. He no longer preaches the
gospel. The sermons are watered down and have little
Biblical content. What Bible is used is from a
paraphrase. The music is more entertainment than
worship. Everything has changed. When I asked the pastor
about it, he told me these changes were necessary for
the church to reach new people and grow. I told him I
strongly disagree and asked him to preach the gospel. He
has most of the church board on his side. I was saved in
this church and have supported it for many years. I do
not want to be divisive; but it doesn’t seem right that
Bible teaching and gospel preaching have been removed
from the church. What shall I do?"
We are in the midst of a
radical change in evangelicalism that has left countless
Christians starving for God’s Word in their churches.
Proponents of the change have labeled as “divisive” those
who resist the movement away from gospel preaching and Bible
teaching. Opponents of the change are declared judgmental
and selfish “Pharisees” and are told that they should be
more loving toward others and quit hanging onto their old
ideas about church. In short the “troublemakers” are told
they must embrace the new paradigm or leave.
At issue is the true
nature of Christian unity. Are we unified by God’s work of
grace that converted us, giving us the unity of the Spirit
with all true Christians, or are we unified organizationally
with the corporate “vision” of the new paradigm change
agents? My thesis is that Biblically defined unity is a
gospel-centered unity that always works toward the unity of
the faith. Biblically defined unity is never a unity
centered about the corporate vision of the new religious
marketing agents.2
True Unity
is Gospel Centric
Paul exhorted the Philippians
to be, “[S]tanding firm in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians
1:27b). The book of Philippians is filled with passages
that show Paul’s passion for the gospel. He was imprisoned
for the gospel, but he rejoices because his circumstances
turned out for the furtherance of the gospel (Philippians
1:12). He saw the gospel as so important that he could
even rejoice if it were preached by people having bad
motives (Philippians 1:15-18). He rejoiced because
the Philippians participated in the gospel (Philippians
1:5). As we saw in Philippians 1:27, for Paul,
Christian unity was all about the faith of the gospel. To
stand against opponents was a good thing because there will
always be opposition to the gospel (Philippians 1:28-30).
Christian unity starts with the gospel and ends with the
resurrection from the dead for those who have joined Paul in
seeing the surpassing value of knowing Christ (Philippians
3:8-14).
Therefore, there is no true
Christian unity unless it is unity grounded in the gospel of
Christ. This gospel includes the truths of the person and
work of Christ (who He is, what He did, and why it is
important: Philippians 2). Those who proclaim the gospel are
always friends of Christian unity and will be welcomed by
those who have been made one body by God’s work of grace.
Paul rejoiced because the Philippians proved to be friends
of the gospel. They were not ashamed of Paul’s imprisonment
and had sent one of their own to risk his life to bring a
gift to Paul. Paul had unity with the Philippians because of
their common commitment to the gospel. This was not so with
some other churches such as the one in Galatia. Anyone who
speaks of Christian unity, but is not a clear proclaimer and
supporter of the gospel, shows himself to be disingenuous.
Saved From
Unhappy Circumstances or Saved from God’s Wrath?
...The true gospel is about
God reconciling sinners (enemies) to Himself through the
blood atonement:
But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then,
having now been justified by His blood, we shall be
saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the
death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we
shall be saved by His life. (Romans
5:8-10)
The false “gospel” being
preached today says that Jesus came to save people from a
lack of purpose, lack of happiness, or from living a stress
filled and problem filled existence. The true gospel
delivers sinners who are God’s enemies (whether they know it
or not) from God’s wrath through the blood atonement. This
is the gospel Paul preached and this is the “faith of the
gospel” around which Paul told the Philippians they should
strive to unify. Any church that does not clearly and
publicly preach this message from the pulpit, yet talks
about “unity,” is promoting a false and man-made unity that
is unbiblical....
Striving
for True Christian Unity
The New Testament pattern is
gospel preaching (which includes the person and work of
Christ and the need to repent and believe) followed by
nurturing the flock with the whole counsel of God. This is
God’s means of establishing true Christian unity. There will
always be attacks against this unity. There were such
attacks in Paul’s day and Paul prophesied that such attacks
would come to the Ephesian church after his departure:
Be on guard for
yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy
Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of
God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that
after my departure savage wolves will come in among you,
not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves
men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
the disciples after them. (Acts
20:28-30)
This passage shows first
there will be attacks from within the church that will
threaten Christian unity. These attacks are against the
faith of the gospel. Second, pastors (or elders or
overseers, whatever term one uses) are commanded to guard
the flock against these attacks from false teachers. The key
words for church leadership, overseers, elders, and pastors,
are used in Acts 20 of the same group of people.3
This shows that there is no “bishop” somewhere with final
authority over the local church.....
The epistles show that Paul
always publicly refuted teachings that were changes or
additions to the gospel of God’s grace. God graciously
saving people through the gospel is the beginning and
foundation of Christian unity. Those who teach things that
are not consistent with this principle threaten true
Christian unity. Paul’s response to those people who
preached the true gospel with bad motives as opposed to
those who preached a false gospel show how important it is
that the gospel is preached accurately. He rejoiced about
the former (Philippians 1:18) and anathematized the
latter (Galatians 1:9). The content of the gospel is
everything. If we cannot get that right, we are in grave
peril! Paul writes, “But even though we, or an angel from
heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which
we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians
1:8). ...
True
Unity is Nurtured Through the Pure Teaching of Scripture
The Bible is God’s unchanging
authority for all true Christians throughout the church age.
It stands to reason that the more our thinking and practice
are in line with the Bible, the more unified we shall be.
People with a love for God because of His work of grace
through the gospel and a love for the truth of Scripture
will be more unified with one another as they learn
Scripture together....
The fact is that
Christians who have been nurtured on the Scriptures purely
taught will find themselves in unity with other such
Christians even when they come from diverse cultures or
different denominational affiliations. In recent experience
I have enjoyed unity with people from a variety of
denominational backgrounds because of our shared passion for
the gospel and God’s word. On the other hand, I have met
others with backgrounds similar to mine with whom I have had
no such unity; we are at odds over just about everything.6
People with very different
views on such matters as eschatology and modes of baptism
can enjoy significant unity. It is not that these matters
are not important—they are. Those who agree that Scripture
settles all issues and that whatever Scripture says about
any matter is ultimately authoritative, those people have a
framework within which to work. However, if the gospel
itself is compromised, there will be no unity....
The unity of the Spirit
Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4:3 is that which God
created through baptizing us into one body: “For by one
Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or
Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to
drink of one Spirit” (1Corinthians 12:13). I have
argued elsewhere that God’s Word is a means of grace.7
Since the unity of the Spirit is to be preserved so that
Christians might demonstrate the virtues of humility,
patience and love toward one another (see Ephesians 4:2;
Colossians 3:12-14), we need an inward work of grace so
that we overcome the fleshly motivations that would hinder
this unity. This growth is nurtured by God’s Word: “like
newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by
it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1Peter 2:2).
When human wisdom rather than God’s Word is preached in the
public assembly, Christians are being robbed of one of God’s
means of changing lives that would preserve the unity of the
Spirit....
...sound, expository
preaching preserves the unity of the Spirit by giving people
God’s means by which He graciously changes lives and
promotes progress toward the unity of the faith. Notice the
problems that are to be therefore laid aside: “As a
result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and
there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine,
by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming”
(Ephesians 4:14). The winds of doctrine that are
blowing people about and undermining their precious faith
must be resisted. Equipping the saints with God’s Word will
give them the spiritual strength to withstand these winds
and to progress in true Christian unity....
False
Unity is Man-centered
...true unity is
gospel-centric. The false unity that is being promoted today
is not like that. In most cases it is unity under a
religious leader’s “vision.” What is meant by the term
“vision” is not the same as the Biblical usage. It is used
in a modern marketing sense and relates to the leader’s
mental image of what he wants the product and corporation to
be like in the future.
When I was in seminary I was
required to take a class that dealt with church growth. Part
of the requirement was to make a field trip to witness a
successful church. The one we visited had grown from a few
hundred people to 2,000 through creating a children’s
program that was so astounding and exciting that the kids
dragged their parents to church. The other part of the
program was to create community activities and teachings
relevant to the parents who normally would not be interested
in church. The pastor who had orchestrated this successful
venture spoke at a seminary lecture. He spoke about vision
and “vision casting.” He told us that Bill Gates had
visualized the Windows platform and cast his vision for that
to his corporation and actualized it through the processes
of the corporation. In like manner, the pastor is to be a
visionary who in his mind can see the church becoming
something it is not, cast that vision to his key people, and
set up the processes necessary to fulfill this vision. This
is what that pastor had done successfully. The result was a
thriving “seeker” church that was popular with people in the
community.
The unity that is necessary
to create a church molded from the mental image of a
religious leader’s dream of an optimal future is unity under
the religious corporation’s vision. To fulfill the dream
each piece must work together and each piece must contribute
to the purposes determined by the visionary leader. The
wisdom of business gurus has been mined by Christian leaders
who have created religious versions to help pastors market
the church. That is precisely what I was taught in the
seminary class. I resisted this publicly in the class; but
many of the students bought it.
Here comes the problem. When
this “vision” has to do with converting a Bible church into
something else, there is an inevitable clash. The reason is
that marketing the church to potential religious consumers
in a given neighborhood is not the same as preaching the
gospel. As I have said many times, the gospel offends
sinners. The type of “vision” under which new paradigm
churches unify is always linked to church growth. The church
has to become something appealing to the unregenerate for
this to happen in the way they envision it....
Once the leaders have made
one simple decision—that the prevailing concerns and needs
of the unbelieving community will determine the program and
message of the church—the inevitable result is that gospel
preaching and Bible teaching cannot be the mainstay of the
church.
The New
Vision Produces False Unity
Once it is adopted, the new
corporate vision for church growth will change the nature of
Christian unity. The vision is only successful if all the
“team members” are willing to commit their talents, time and
effort to in unity see the vision to fulfillment. Like the
business corporation counterpart it was copied from, it
requires everyone from the CEO to the warehouse workers to
pull together for the same corporate vision and purpose.
That is the reason books that train pastors to adopt this
view and thereby change existing churches, teach them to be
prepared to lose previous members, even most of them if it
is necessary. They cannot succeed while spending energy
trying to fight or cajole naysayers (i.e. born again
Christians who think the gospel should be preached). ...
One tactic that is commonly
used by leaders who are converting Biblically defined
churches to religious organizations designed to meet the
needs of religious consumers is to accuse those who resist
of being “divisive.” They cite Bible verses to unsuspecting
Christians who have tender consciences and do not wish to do
anything that would be harmful to their churches. These
Christians know something is wrong and they notice the
church becoming more worldly, less godly, and placing less
emphasis on important Biblical doctrines. These Christians
are told they are dividing the body and that the Bible warns
about such people: “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your
eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary
to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them”
(Romans 16:17). The problem is that this verse is not
about unity under a new corporate marketing plan. The verse
says “contrary to the teaching which you learned”
(i.e. from Paul).
Those who have replaced the
unity of the Spirit and the unity of the faith with unity of
the pastor’s personal vision are the truly divisive ones.
They are guilty of the very charge they level against
dissenters within the flock. Such leaders are causing
dissensions and hindrances because they have willingly laid
aside the teaching of Christ and His apostles in order to
promote the wisdom of man.
A “factious” person in the
Bible (Titus 3:10) was one who departed from sound
doctrine or Biblical practice, not one who failed to help
religious leaders fulfill their vision for the future
success and glory of a religious corporation. For example,
Luther was considered factious by the Roman Catholic Church.
Whether he was or not has to be determined by examining his
doctrine and practice with the Bible and doing the same for
the Roman Church. One is not automatically a heretic or
divisive because he or she has a disagreement with a
man-made religious corporation. This is especially true if
what is causing the division is the gospel itself.
Conclusion
Jesus said, “Do you
suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no,
but rather division” (Luke 12:51). The gospel is
divisive when preached to the unregenerate. Those who
respond in faith are divided from those who reject it.
Christian unity is unity under and through the gospel. It is
created by God when He regenerates people and makes them one
in spirit with other believers. It is nurtured through the
teaching of sound Biblical doctrine that has as its goal the
unity of the faith. False unity is unity that is demanded
and prescribed by religious leaders to their own ideas and
organizations. This is the unity that the religious leaders
of Israel wanted and that Jesus threatened. His gospel
divided their religious system and spoiled their unity. They
decided they had to get rid of Him. The gospel will divide
churches as well if they are not based on the gospel itself.
The false unity of corporate vision to create growth through
adding religious consumers to the organization will create a
“church” that would be divided by the gospel if it were
preached there. Those who promote pure gospel preaching are
the friends of Christian unity. Those who promote
man-centered “vision” for their religious systems are
enemies of Christian unity. Be encouraged in your support
for the gospel; the Bible says that you are pleasing Christ
by so doing (Philippians 1:27).
Copyright © 1992-2005 Twin City
Fellowship
Please
read the rest the of this much-needed message -- along
with the endnotes -- at
http://www.twincityfellowship.com/cic/articles/issue88.htm
Other articles by Bob DeWaay:
Redefining the Church
Faulty Premises
of the Church Growth Movement
“Church Health
Award” from Rick Warren or Jesus Christ?
Bob DeWaay is
the Pastor of
Twin City Fellowship, a
non-denominational evangelical Church in Minneapolis, MN:
"We are a
body of believers who attempt to live our Christian
faith according to Acts 2:42 by devoting ourselves to
prayer, fellowship, searching the Scriptures, and the
Lord’s Supper. Our mission is to equip the saints for the work of
ministry and to reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. We do this through expository preaching, study
of the Scriptures, publications, our website and
neighborhood outreaches."