Monday 20 January 2020

Christian Unity

According to modern beliefs, the essence of Christianity is bringing people together and uniting them where there is division. We are all one and anything that seeks to divide or separate is evil.  We must find and celebrate common ground where we all can meet wherever that exists, and ignore everything that goes against that. It's all superficial compared to our oneness as human beings and what we share as children of God. Especially at Christmas we hear plenty of commentaries based on this theme. We should all love one another and be one big, happy family in which everyone is valued and no one is made to feel worse than anyone else. God loves us unconditionally no matter what we are, and we must treat our fellow men and women in that same spirit if we are good people.

This, dear readers, is a damnable lie put about to avoid facing the reality of what Christ is and what he demands from us, and to make the point I have selected some key quotes from Jesus which completely contradict the unity above all else theme.


"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law"
Matthew 10.34-35

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’" Matthew 7 21-23

"Many are called but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14

 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you". John 15 18-20

"He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters". Luke 11:23

There are several more which those more learned in scripture than me will be able to call to mind. Please feel free to add them in the comment section. The point I wish to make is not that division is good and unity bad, but that unity is not the pre-eminent virtue it is claimed to be. That would be truth. Those who honour and follow God's truth cannot make common cause with those who go against it. They are not equally justified and it is entirely wrong to give them equal consideration. Unity in this case simply destroys truth which, of course, is why it is promoted in these times of near universal apostasy.

God certainly does love all human souls and it is precisely because he loves us that he calls us to give up what separates us from him. Which would be our attachment to some sort of sin. If we will not do that then we cut ourselves off from his love and put ourselves out of spiritual oneness. If you want to join a club you must obey the rules.



11 comments:

Chris said...

William,

Your point is well taken. But, I would be cautious in making that case with Bible verses- that strategy is often used against us. Quotes from the Bible , especially from the OT, are often hurled at Christians that seem to support things like slavery and genocide.

William Wildblood said...

Perhaps but these are the words of Jesus and they are unequivocal.

Bruce Charlton said...

@William - Point well made. Secular culture is very strong on telling Christians what we are, and what we should do, and when we are being 'not very Christian'. They only do this to weaken and ridicule us.

The title made me think the post was about unity between Christians - e.g. in different churches. If unity means mutual support and cooperation; that is something we could do more with. We ought to be Christians first and, whatever type of Christian second.

The difficulty is often in defining a Christian without either begging the question in one's own favour (or against people that we dislike) or else focusing on secondary aspects. Whatever the 'definition'; I feel sure that A Christian must be something that a child of six, a simple-minded peasant, or unexpert person could be.

I recall Acts 8: 27-39 where Philip baptised the Ethiopian Eunuch shortly after meeting him: from zero to Christian in not-many-minutes.

William Wildblood said...

Yes Bruce, I thought the title was a bit ambiguous or even misleading but couldn't think of a better one!

Being a Christian is now often interpreted in a purely humanistic way thereby stripping it of its qualitative element. This is to reduce it to a secular thing, spiritually useless.

Perhaps what really makes a person a Christian is that they love Christ.

Moonsphere said...

Progressives love to cast Jesus as a sentimental liberal. Worse still - they paint him as predictable. This is done so that they might second guess him and appropriate him as a mascot for their agenda.

And yet the truth is quite the opposite. I'm sure there were many people whom Jesus refused to cure because it would not have furthered the path of their soul. And how many would-be disciples did he turn away because he could see the darkness in their hearts? Quite a few I should think.

When the messengers were sent to Jesus with news of Lazarus' illness, he didn't go straight to Bethany to cure him. Far from it! He travelled around, visiting people and places for a week or more. He was living out a far greater truth, one that would require the family and friends of Lazarus to endure his death and burial before the time was right for Jesus to take action.

You are completely right William - the opposed forces have the intention to totally strip Christianity of its discernment, of its moral judgement.

Bruce Charlton said...

@Moonsphere - some excellent points, which I haven't seen made before.

William Wildblood said...

Yes, very good points Moonsphere. The progressives completely ignore the often counter-intuitive reality of Jesus such as his giving the go ahead to the woman who was anointing his feet with perfume rather than spending that money on the poor.

Anonymous said...

WW: Perhaps like BC has done, your posts this month have also strongly touched on topics from the LDS volume of scripture "Pearl of Great Price", specifically Selections from the Book of Moses, and the Book of Abraham.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp

Moses and Abraham are quick reads if you're curious to see where you overlap.

-Bookslinger.

William Wildblood said...

Thanks Bookslinger. I'll have a look.

Berk said...

A while ago I read someone who said the troubles with Christianity came after the mass printing of the bible that let all the common people read it and some be confused by all the conflicting statements, or get hung up on certain pronouncements, rather than following common sense ideas of what Christianity should be.

William Wildblood said...

That may be true but people have to have the chance to know things for themselves and make their own mistakes if they are to grow up.