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By Gerald B. Stanton, Th.D.*
has its own significance. But the em phasis must ever be upon that which is of major consequence, lest the too great attendance upon details robs us of that harmony and balance required of those who proclaim the whole counsel of God. Those who make hobbies out of small points of doctrine may indeed do the church a favor by declaring all the ram ifications of their small point, but not if it is at the expense of the weightier matters of the faith such as love for the brethren and the unity of the Spirit. It is said of the early church, during the days of her greatest persecutions and greatest victories, that the one thing her enemies could never under stand nor gainsay was the love and es teem the Christians had one for the other. The forces of pagan darkness were put to flight by their own admis sion: ‘Behold how they love one an other!” No wonder the constant theme of the book of Acts is that the early believers were of one accord and of one heart and one mind (Acts 1:14; 2:1; 4:32; 5:12; 10:33; 15:25). The fruit of Christian love is Christian unity. There fore the most comprehensive of these three suggestions, made because the five fold prayer of our Saviour is being so little fulfilled in us, is this: We would separate from one another less if' we would love one another more. “ This is my commandment, that ye love one an other. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 15:12; 13:35). The main task of the church is to point a dying world to a living Saviour. There will be a greater measure of suc cess when we learn to dwell together in unity. Christ prayed “ that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21). Certainly, this is a neglected formula for world evangelism. We need to re-focus our attention upon this cardinal doctrine of Christian unity and learn to fight together against the real enemies of our faith, lest we spend all our strength poking at the petty differences within. And when we do see a brother in Christ with whom we cannot agree, we will remember that if God has given unto us the spirit of greater discernment, it is given not to make us critical but to make us inter cede. Page Twenty-one
ing men as they behold the discords and divisions of Christian people who are supposed to love one another. In the words of the familiar hymn, “We are not divided; all one army we . . .” there is expressed the divine ideal for Chris tian soldiers, but the problem is to find how such unity may be attained. With out attempting a complete answer, it is believed that the following suggestions are worthy of consideration.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; as the dew that descended upon the moun tains of Zion: for there the Lord com manded the blessing, even life for ever more. This brief, yet beautiful, one hundred thirty-third Psalm was in all probability one of the songs sung by Israelite pil grims on their way to the city of Jeru salem to celebrate their yearly feasts. It takes as its theme the preciousness of the unity of the people of God, com paring it to the costly ointment used to anoint the head of the high priest— a unity which is good and pleasant and commands the blessing of the Lord. Whether it be Israel of old or the Christians of this day, it is always the will of God for His people to dwell to gether in unity. Whether it be in the unity of the faith, the fellowship of kin dred minds, or in the less important de tails and tensions of life, the command of God to protect Christian unity has never been revoked. We are to forbear one another in love and endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Five times in the great high-priestly prayer of Christ He prayed earnestly for His own “that they all may be one” (John 17:11, 21-23). Any request found in a prayer such as this is of more than passing interest. How vital then is this particular expression of the mind and will of Christ, made of paramount im portance by the emphasis of constant repetition. Nothing is more dear to the heart of God than to see His children dwelling together in unity and love. Is it not like unto a precious ointment poured out upon the head of our great High Priest? Let us then covet it ear nestly and guard it well! The present spectacle of the church, torn by denominational distinctions with out and by petty disharmonies within, might well provoke the wonder of angels. More important is the fact that it does invoke the contempt of unbeliev- *Chairman of the Department of Sys tematic Theology, Talbot Theological Seminary. M A R C H , 1 9 5 3
“ That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21). Learn to disagree without being dis agreeable. If it seems necessary to differ with fellow believers, avoid the caustic remark, the half-truth, the holier-than- thou attitude, the critical spirit—any of which may do more harm than the en tire problem which gave rise to the dis agreement. We do well to fight for doc trinal purity and to resist steadfastly the inroads of liberalism. Likewise, ws do well in the lesser issues to stress the things wherein we do agree and to main tain Christian courtesy at all times. This gives rise to the second suggestion which is: Stress the fundamentals and not the incidentals of the Christian faith. This does not mean that items of secondary nature are of no real impor tance, for every truth revealed by God
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