Fragmentation
(Editorial - December 2000)
United we stand
There could be no better illustration of the benefit of united action than the planned
campaign in Raleigh, North Carolina. The sponsoring ecclesia, Norfolk, Virginia, (formerly
Unamended) associated itself with the Central Fellowship in October, 1999. One of the key
participants in Raleigh, Bro. Duncan Heaster, of Britain and Lithuania, joined us from the
Dawn Fellowship in 1997. The North Carolina contacts come mainly from the internet
preaching effort of the Saanich, British Columbia, Ecclesia, which in turn owes much to
members who were formerly of the Unamended fellowship. Washington, DC, a longstanding
Central ecclesia, participated in the instruction of Bro. LaMont Bullock, a recent convert
and sparkplug of this effort, as did Petersburgh, Virginia, a small Central ecclesia which
has recently increased in membership by the transfer of several brothers and sisters from
nearby Unamended ecclesias.
United in their work, a very exciting preaching effort is underway which would never have happened if the parties involved were still fragmented. That’s to be expected because the body of Christ draws strength from every member and functions effectively "when each part is working properly" (Eph. 4:16).
Do numbers matter?
Any appeal for unity invites suspicion that we are seeking to swell the numbers of the
Central (termed "Amended" in North America) Fellowship. Some see virtue
in small numbers and argue the Truth could never be held in its purity by a large group.
To counter such thinking consider the following:
In Elijah’s day, seven thousand in Israel remained faithful to Yahweh, yet they were so small a number in that nation, Elijah didn’t know they existed. Seven thousand believers in a nation of about three and a half million people were considered a small fraction as they numbered only one in 500 people (1/500).
In Canada and the U.S.A. today there are roughly 6,000 Christadelphians of all fellowships in a population of some 300 million. That factors out to one in 50,000 people (1/50,000). If we increase the number to 10,000 believers accounting for others not of our community, the ratio comes out at one believer in 30,000 persons (1/30,000). If we had the fraction of Elijah’s time (1/500) there would be 600,000 true worshippers of God in Canada and the US. We’re not too big!
Further the new ecclesia grew in leaps and bounds in its early Jerusalem days – very shortly "the number of the men was about five thousand" (Acts 4:4). And God’s ultimate purpose is to fill the whole world with a population of people who love and fear Him. There’s nothing wrong with having a greater number of believers.
Unity a command
No matter what the numbers, it is the will of Christ that all brothers and sisters in
him work together as one body.
"I lay down my life for the sheep" said the Master, "And other sheep I have [Gentile believers], which are not of this fold [Jewish believers]: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" (John 10:16). Through the apostles, the Lord went to the Gentiles preaching and convincing by mighty wonders and signs and bringing them into the same fold as Jewish believers. To divide the fold is to go directly contrary to the will of our Lord.
At baptism, we are not only baptized into the saving name of Jesus Christ, we "are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles..." (I Cor. 12:13). "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ" (I Cor. 12:12). The body has two arms because two arms are essential for the full and complete functioning of the body. When we fragment the body, we are rejecting some of the very parts God has supplied for the effective functioning of the spiritual body and we are disavowing one purpose of our baptism.
The first listed of the seven first principles is "one body," which great truth is followed by those of the "one spirit...one hope...one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God..." (Eph. 4:4-5). None of us would dispute the importance of the "one faith" or the fact of "one God." Our insistence on "one body" should be at the same level of concern.
Clearly, whether they be many or few, the children of God at any one time in history are all supposed to be in fellowship with one another, working together as best they can in the one body of Christ. United, the believers have the opportunity to grow together into an upright, vigorous man, with Christ at their head. Divided, they stand the danger of biting and devouring one another and risk destroying the faith in the earth.
Guilt by association
One of the most common reasons for dividing the body is a fear we’re held guilty
for the sinful conduct or variant ideas of those with whom we break bread. So we get into
as small and "pure" a group as we can. The "guilt by
association" idea comes from Calvinistic theology; it certainly is not biblical
teaching.
Look at the Lord’s messages to the seven ecclesias – he specifically addresses this fear (Rev. 2 and 3). As an ecclesia, Sardis was in trouble: "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead" (Rev. 3:1). Under the law, a person was contaminated by touching the dead, but not under the covenant of grace. In the Revelation, the few faithful left in Sardis "have not defiled their garments" (v. 4). We are to exhort one another and to deal with open iniquity in the ecclesia, but we are not held guilty for the sins of those with whom we break bread.
One may say those who actively support a teacher who is eroding the faith are as guilty as the teacher (II John v.11). This is reasonable and true if we’re talking about someone attacking the very heart of the gospel -- denying that the Lord Jesus Christ was a mortal human being or teaching the virtue of idolatry, adultery and fornication. But we rarely, if ever, face such a severe crisis. In our case, our forebears have supplied us with appropriate summaries of the one faith (the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith being the best known and most widely used) which have worked wonderfully in helping us preserve the fundamentals of the faith. What habitually causes fragmentation among us is not defending these fundamentals, but an insistence everybody agree with some precisely worded humanly composed statement or agree with our decision on a difficult matter.
There will be false teachers arise and some will practice iniquity. Action may be called for, but we can take our time contemplating a right course, for we are not held guilty of the other’s sins by breaking bread with him.
Small can be comfortable
Whatever the public rationale might be for a splinter ecclesia or fellowship, the
unspoken and real reason is often a matter of interpersonal conflict or individual
preference on certain matters. Some find it difficult to get along with others and simply
shy away from a larger ecclesial setting. Or they may prefer a little group they’ve
known all their lives and with whom they’ve settled into a comfortable routine.
That may be an honest position but it’s not the scriptural one. Whether we like it or not, we part of the one ecclesial body. The Lord wants us to contribute what we can to the benefit of others, to be helped by our brethren in our time of need, to learn from them and to develop our characters through the trials, responsibilities and opportunities of life in the ecclesia. In many cases the very people we find difficult are helping us develop the patience, forgiveness and submission which is necessary in order for us to be kings and priests in the world to come. The kingdom – that is the goal for which ecclesial life is preparing us.
Preaching brings trouble
Some feel the larger group places too great an emphasis on preaching instead of
strengthening the things that remain. They note that many times people attend preaching
events who have moral, personal and life-style problems. If such persons do accept the
truth, they may bring with them problems we’re ill-equipped to handle.
This is not our decision to make. We’re not running our own organization; we’re part of the Lord’s. He wants us to preach, for that’s the way he presents the word of life to others, even in this day.
The unity of all believers in a given age is not man’s idea; it is God’s. The sin of fragmentation is not a sin against man, it’s a sin against God. We need to work diligently, as much as we are able, to observe this critical first principle and to see that there is one body, even as there is one faith, and one Lord and one God and Father of us all.
Don Styles