Beautiful Tapestry OR Divided House?

Some days I think of Christian unity as a beautiful tapestry or a shining jewel, displayed and radiant in all its textures and facets, a glorious reflection of who God is, as demonstrated through His Body. After all, we ARE the treasured possession of our God and King.*

We are His handiwork—His ‘poema’—created in Christ Jesus to do good works to the glory of God!**

Other days I feel like Scriptural unity is more work than I’m willing to put in…

The thinking goes: After all, who doesn’t have their own bias toward sticking with those similar to oneself? Who doesn’t have their own preferences regarding aesthetics, theological emphases, or generational perspective? Who doesn’t prefer their own comfort zone to the risk of becoming messengers of reconciliation and peace toward others? Isn’t it just human nature to stay in our own groups?

If we succumb to the discouragement of the second type of thinking—that Christian unity is more work than we can manage or maintain—we may have forgotten the vision and purpose that Jesus, and, by extension, Paul showed us. When Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, he declared that God’s purpose in Christ’s atonement was “to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Eph. 2:15-16)

In his book Make Us One, Chris wrote, “While scholars will always disagree, I believe that Paul means the church when he writes, ‘and in one body to reconcile both of them to God.’ In the end, the place of unity for Paul is very concrete and down to earth. The very place ordained by God for unity and reconciliation is Christ’s body, the church.” (p. 62)

Chris likens our transfer into the family of God to a rich man’s adopting street children and inviting them to live in His mansion. But many times, although we have been given a new name and a new identity, we still behave like those street children we once were.

“We commit two different sins against the harmony that the rich man intends. First, we scratch and bite the other children. Second, we draw chalk circles on the floor and teach each other to stay in the groups we had on the streets. Somehow God’s adopted children manage to justify acting, talking, relating, reacting, and dividing ourselves up like those who are not in Christ and still at war with God…

“…in Christ and in the church the very least that is expected is that we allow absolutely no room for racism, classism, and ageism. But even this is far too passive from a biblical standpoint. Our churches need to be centers for active reconciliation—real and visible humans who love humans of other color and class, who strive to understand the personal and cultural strongholds of racism in our world, and who proactively fight with Christ’s gospel to reconcile and refashion as much as we can.” (pp 62-63)

It’s easy to associate with those who think like us, to seek harmony for ourselves and forget that Christ made us His ambassadors of reconciliation. Ambassadors always go to a foreign place to carry out the mission of their Commander-in-Chief.

Where can the world be called to experience the reconciliation of God? In the Church!

Sometimes people of the world can experience reconciliation in “The Church Gathered” on Sundays or Wednesdays or in homes where God’s people meet together. But more often than not, folks are made aware of Christ’s reconciliation through “The Church Scattered,” as we live out Christ’s mission of harmony and reconciliation toward our brothers and sisters in the world.

To bring the peace and harmony of the Church to the world, we must first be reconciled to believers IN the Church. At the same time, He empowers us to BE the Church TO the world.

Are there any chalk circles we need the Spirit to help us erase? What steps of active reconciliation can you and I take today to be reconciled to another believer, to demonstrate the peaceableness of Christ to the world?

“Lord, make us instruments of Thy peace…”

For His Glory,

Chris & Julie Branstetter

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:

*Exodus 19:5-6, Deuteronomy 14:2, 1 Peter 2:9   **Ephesians 2:10