Yesterday I highlighted the troubling report of Luis Palau’s partnership with Roman Catholics in his upcoming crusade in Omaha. Some folks may look at my assessment and think it narrow and a detriment to unity, while others may agree without reservation. In either case I want to try to provide a bit of development with respect to this type of Ecumenicalism. So in the next couple of days I will post on this topic and, in keeping with the blogospheric norm, these posts will not be exhaustive. However, I aim to provide a biblical answer to ecumenism, showing the unity that God forbids, while also promoting the unity God commands. Hopefully it proves helpful.
Ecumenism Defined
What are we talking about when we speak of the Ecumenical Movement? Simply put it is the initiative to assert and preserve unity among diverse religious groups.
Within the protestant or evangelical community the ecumenical movement seeks to join folks from traditionally polemical positions. Under the umbrella of unity folks from conservative backgrounds unite with liberals. What’s more, we have seen in recent years an increased partnership within the evangelical community with adherents of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as Jews, Muslims, and Mormons.
Ecumenism Explained
When one encounters ecumenical streams of theology and practice the prevailing goal becomes clear; it is unity at all costs. This goal is distinguished from all competition. Those who pursue such unity are able to tolerate extreme doctrinal variation in effort to achieve their chief end. In fact, the only thing that the ecumenical movement seems to not tolerate is disunity.
The idea of unity is appealing. Even a quick glance at the religious landscape in general and the Christian community in particular will reveal extreme variation and opposition. The apparent disunity has been a favorite criticism by those who find themselves outside of and antagonistic to the Christian church.
Ecumenism Examined
So what is wrong with a movement or philosophy that promotes such radical spiritual partnership?
We see right away when considering the ecumenical movement that the basis for unity is a common desire for unity. This likeminded ecumenical spirit enables adherents to overlook doctrinal differences in order to achieve this chief goal.
The ecumenical spirit takes on different forms but it maintains this same unified goal. In other words, groups elevate various goals as their chief end and these goals become the driving force for all unity; if you can agree on the common goal then they can agree on partnership.
In the 1990’s The Promise Keepers sought to unite men to become better husbands, better fathers, better employees and better “men of faith”. This broad target audience included anyone who was interested. Their approach came across as evangelically conservative so by this nature it did eliminate some who could not stomach their bible quoting and tendency to lean toward the right politically and socially. However, they were intentional in their aim towards unity across doctrinal lines for the sake of their goal of impacting men. This was seen clearly in their under emphasis of doctrine and wide spectrum of theological convictions with the leadership.
Evangelist Billy Graham has been intentional throughout his ministry on bringing people on board who hold doctrinal convictions that are outside the realm of orthodox evangelicalism. Graham had no problem joining hands with protestant liberals and Roman Catholics in ministry because he believed they aided him in gaining a wider audience for his evangelism crusades. Thus it was not uncommon for Graham to have a Roman Catholic speaking on the platform during his crusades. When asked about this strange partnership Graham has said, “I have no quarrel with the Catholic Church.” And further, “I do not think the differences (between evangelicalism and Roman Catholicism) are important as far as personal salvation is concerned.”
In recent years evangelist Luis Palau has enjoyed Billy Graham-like success. For his festival in Omaha, Palau received the endorsement of the Catholic bishop of the Omaha dioceses and has partnered with multiple Catholic churches for the promotion and support of the event. (see also this post)
Best selling author and pastor Rick Warren has been a loud proponent of ecumenicalism. In conducting pastor-training programs he welcomes Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Jews and ordained women. When questioned about how he can have such untraditional spiritual friendships Warren said, “I’m not going to get into a debate over the non-essentials. I won’t try to change other denominations. Why be divisive?” (USA Today 7/21/2003) It is disturbing to see Warren’s commitment to helping those who promote a different gospel become more effective at doing so. Warren is aiming to help apostate and cultic churches to grow. This is a dangerous ecumenicalism.
Whether we are talking about an evangelism crusade, a masculinity rally, a pastoral training conference or a prayer meeting, the unifying factor remains the goal of the respective group. This unifying goal distinguishes itself as the ultimate authority of the ministry.
However, how does this square up with the teaching of the New Testament? Is God concerned with how and with whom his people do ministry?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this post I want to briefly consider if and how God restricts his people from involvement with others. Specifically I aim to answer questions such as, Does God put restrictions on partnership? Is ‘unity at all costs’ biblical? What is the criteria by which believers are to measure their ministerial involvement with others?
God is a God of unity. He is not the source of error rather Satan is (Jn. 8.44). At the same time as the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth he does have the final say as to what types of spiritual endeavors his people are to enter into.
: the teaching of Second Corinthians
Second Corinthians chapter six is a passage that is often cited with reference to marriage, however, the passage falls within a context of instructions on biblical ministry. Christians are given clear and concise instruction that there are parameters within which the Christian church can do ministry. Look at what the Scriptures say:
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
The imagery employed by the Apostle Paul draws a great picture for us. The word translated “bound together” could also be translated “unequally yoked”. This agricultural image draws us to the field where two animals would be “bound together” for the accomplishment of the farmer’s objective. Here Christians are warned not to be “bound together” with unbelievers for the purpose of ministry.
Notice what the criteria is? Verse 14 says, “unbelievers”. This seems simple enough. Those who are not believers in the gospel; those who do not embrace what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ, his person and his work; those who do not embrace what the Bible teaches about humanity, our depravity and the means of justification; those who do not embrace what the Bible teaches about its own authority, its nature, inerrancy, and sufficiency. If someone is an unbeliever a Christian cannot partner with them for a spiritual endeavor, it is a sin to do so, for God commands that we do not.
In God’s view the question to be asked is not whether or not the partnership or alliance with various religious groups would further our agenda but whether or not these partnerships would be congruous with the divine agenda.
It is unsettling to consider what is really happening when folks, in the name of unity, promote an agenda or cause above God’s chief agenda. God has willed the Jesus Christ be the unique and exclusive Savior, that he receive the unmitigated praise, devotion and allegiance, and that he be preeminent in the church. However, if the goal (regardless of its apparent nobility) demotes Jesus from this position of preeminence then any appeal that ecumenicalism may have had has just been eradicated.
: the teaching of Galatians
The Apostle Paul marched into the region of Galatia to encounter the religious teaching of the Judiaziers. These conservative Bible believing members of the church promoted a gospel that did not rest solely upon the finished work of Christ alone. Instead it insisted upon a gospel that included the cooperation of the sinner through circumcision.
The Apostle Paul had a lot in common with these people in terms of worldview, family values, and a conservative leaning. However, we are not left with any level of ambiguity in the strong assertion by Paul upon penning the Epistle to the Galatians, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the main thing, and if folks will not accept the pure gospel of faith alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone then they are unbelievers:
Galatians 1:8-9 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
Paul uses extremely strong language here. He says those who believe and promote a false gospel are to be “accursed” literally they are to be “anathema” that is damned without pardon.
In understanding the teaching of the New Testament, believers are not to receive the teaching of those who promote a false gospel (Gal. 1.8-9), they are not to welcome them into their home or bid them well (2 John 10-11), and they are most certainly not to be bound together for purpose of ministry (2 Cor. 6.14).
------------------------------------------
Does Ecumenicalism Undermine Biblical Unity? (part iii) :: promoting biblical unity
We sometimes get painted as negative when we refuse to unite with some folks. My aim in this short series has been to show that false unity occurs, God has commanded against it, and that we are to actually promote a biblical unity. As a result of ecumenical pursuits people have actually abandoned the distinctives that unite Christians and so therefore in the name of ‘unity’ undermined ‘biblical unity’. So in this post here I want to conclude positively with respect to the promotion of the unity that God promotes.Ecumenism Answered :: biblical unity
The believer must understand that God has placed restrictions on ministry. We are simply not permitted to engage in ministry in any setting with any party. God wants believers to be faithful to rally around the gospel of his beloved Son not obscure, marginalize or eclipse it by partnering in ministry with people who do not believe his gospel.
So what do we do? There are some basic considerations that are necessary when considering whether or not to partner with someone in ministry.
The basis for Unity: Jesus Christ
We remember the Apostle Paul’s instructions in 2 Corinthians, the test for ministerial partnership is whether or not the person or group believes in Jesus Christ. This is the test. What do they do with Jesus? If they add human works or merit to his gospel then we cannot partner. If they take away from his person then we cannot partner.
We read in John 17 of the Savior’s desire for unity.
John 17:22-23 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
What is the basis for this unity?
In verse 3 we read that eternal life rests completely in knowing God through Jesus Christ. The tone of this prayer by Jesus centers on the church. Even Jesus clarifies that he is not praying for everyone in the world but for those who would believe (v.9). Therefore Jesus hones in on his desire for God to be glorified through the rallying around of the truth by the church of Jesus Christ (cf. vv. 6, 10-11, 17, 22-23).
Jesus prays that his people would be unified. It is important to remember that the basis for this unity is a commitment to the revealed truth of God, specifically Jesus Christ himself:
John 17:11 11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
The goal of Unity : the glory of Christ
John 17 also shows us the goal of biblical unity:
John 17:21-23 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
This is such a rich passage that must inform how we approach unity. Jesus is praying (and so therefore expressing his desire) for unity in the church that is reflective of unity in the Trinity. In the Trinity there is no confusion about the eternal agenda, it is simply to amplify and enjoy the glory of God. Therefore we see in this passage the connection between the glory of God in Christ and the unity of the church. The church cannot be united with those who do not aim toward the glory of God through Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ is not united with such people. This is precisely Paul’s point in Second Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
The unity that Jesus desires and prays for is a unity that reflects the holy harmony of the Trinity and models the divine agenda of the glory of God through Jesus Christ. This Christ-Centered exclusive unity is clear and consistent message to the unbelieving world (v.23).
The test for Unity: the gospel of Christ
The simplest test for whether or not believers may engage in ministry with others is the gospel. We must know whether or not the biblical gospel is proclaimed and defended, for if it is not the basis of the ministry then there is no biblical basis for a spiritual partnership.
Consider church growth guru and best selling author Rick Warren’s approach to ministerial partnership:
“It really doesn’t matter what your label is. If you love Jesus, we’re on the same team….Now I don’t agree with everything in everybody’s denomination, including my own. I don’t agree with everything that Catholics do or Pentecostals do, but what binds us together is so much stronger than what divides us.”
“I really do feel that these people are brothers and sisters in God’s family. I am looking to build bridges with the Orthodox Church, looking to build bridges with the Catholic Church, with the Anglican church, and say ‘What can we do together that we have been unable to do by ourselves?’ ” (Pittsburgh Post Gazette, November 12, 2005)
Warren believes that what binds him together with Roman Catholics is a sufficient basis to partner in ministry. The Roman Catholic Church promotes a different gospel, they have a completely different message.
In this vein Warren continues, “It really doesn’t matter what your label is. If you love Jesus, we’re on the same team.”
In light of Galatians, Second Corinthians, and John 17, we simply cannot partner with those who believe and promote a different gospel. We are not on the same team. We are on opposing teams.
The Christian is commanded to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4.3). This command precedes a great reminder about the exclusivity of biblical Christianity:
Ephesians 4:4-6 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Notice all of the exclusive and narrow terms, one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. Biblical unity is connected to Christian fidelity. To partner in ministry with those who are unbelievers is to eradicate the divinely ordained boundaries that surround biblical Christianity. Ecumenical unity undermines biblical unity.
We want to get ministry done but not at the expense of the glory and pleasure of Jesus Christ. We must be ever considerate of what God thinks about our ministry as revealed in his Scripture. We understand that truth unites and error divides. The Christian is to be radically committed to unity, but this unity comes based upon the person, work and glory of Jesus Christ not at the expense of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment