Christian Unity and Division

Try not to attack Christian denominations because they espouse doctrines that differ from your beliefs. I say this for a couple of reasons, best summed up by C.S. Lewis in his Preface to Mere Christianity, pages VIII-IX. See Resources – Bibliography.

“But in this book I am not trying to convert anyone to my own position. Ever since I became a Christian I have thought that the best, perhaps the only, service I could do for my unbelieving neighbours was to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times. I had more than one reason for thinking this. In the first place, the questions which divide Christians from one another often involve points of high Theology or even ecclesiastical history, which ought never to be treated except by real experts. I should have been out of my depth ins such waters: more in need of help myself than able to help others. And secondly, I think we must admit that the discussion of these disputed points has no tendency at all to bring an outsider into the Christian fold. So long as we write and talk about them we are much more likely to deter him from entering any Christian communion than to draw him into our own. Our divisions should never be discussed except in the presence of those who have already come to believe that there is one God and that Jesus Christ is His only Son. Finally, I got the impression that far more, and more talented, authors were already engaged in such controversial matters than in the defence of what Baxter calls ‘mere’ Christianity. That part of the line where I thought I could serve best was also the part that seemed to be thinnest. And to it I naturally went.”

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“There are questions at issue between Christians to which I do not think we have been told the answer. There are some to which I may never know the answer: if I asked them, even in a better world, I might (for all I know) be answered as a far greater questioner was answered: “What is that to thee? Follow thou Me.” [John 21:22]

Don’t be distracted and don’t allow others to be diverted into discussions about issues that divide the Christian community. Stay focused on our common bond and bring the nonbeliever into the Christian mansion. They can fine-tune their belief system later and figure out what room to enter once they’re in the hallway. Whatever our fine-tuned Christian beliefs are, some of them (or maybe all) are almost certainly wrong or at least off the mark. It’s nice to know that the first sermon Jesus spoke while hanging from the cross was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34.

One final thought on this subject: Jesus started carrying the cross to Calvary by himself, but he couldn’t make it and Simon was forced into helping our Savior.  We all carry our individual crosses and struggle.  We always need the help of others even though we may not acknowledge our need or be willing to accept an offering of help.  In fact, some Christian denominations seem to spend an inordinate amount of time separating themselves from others by drawing upon various biblical passages to support particular doctrines that everybody else has got wrong.  They wish to carry the cross by themselves and everyone else must fall in line or risk eternal damnation.

Clearly this is not what Jesus desired.  In the 17th Chapter of John, he prayed to the Father that His disciples and all believers be one, just as Jesus and the Father were one.  He prayed for them and he prayed for those that would believe in Him because of their teaching and that all who believed in Him would be one.

Maybe it’s time we as Christians seriously start to follow Christ’s admonishments.  We must understand that we need to forge a more perfect union and carry the cross together.  This is what the Lord prayed for just before Gethsemane.  If you are about to be beheaded by a Muslim jihadist, he is not going to ask you if you are an Episcopalian, or an Evangelical, or a Catholic, or an Orthodox.  He’s going to identify you as a person of the cross and must be dispatched accordingly.

Let’s stick together.

Some websites and references

  • C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Harper Collins Edition, San Francisco, 2001)
  • Luke 23:34
  • John Chapter 17

Footnotes and Attributions

 Last modified August 7, 2019