Next | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Index | Tellout
7D. Christian Unity and World Evangelization 
Members of the denominational body have always squabbled over their differences. One of the earliest church controversies concerned the difference between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Some Gentiles were eating meat offered to idols and were criticized by the Jewish Christians who wanted them to keep all the Law's ceremonies and regulations. In another instance we read that, "The Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food"(11). The two earliest denominations squabbled over solutions to these issues and remind us of their recent counterparts. Christ himself breaks down the wall which divides Jews and Gentiles. He brings both together in one Body. Denominations need to know that in Jesus, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus"(12).
Christian Unity
Being in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit unifies God's people. "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ... then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose"(13). In his letter to the Corinthian Church, St Paul is concerned to show that in the words of the song, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." Love needs to be practical, long-suffering and dedicated.
Love Stands in the Presence of a Fault with a Finger on her lips
To love is to be generous when famine or tragedy sweeps through another country. It means listening to each others concerns, giving your full attention to someone who is talking to you. Love is better than gifts. Paul concludes that without love, gifts are no use. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."(14).Love is many sided. "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered"(15). Love is best when mature. "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."(16).
World Evangelization
Dr James Kennedy, founder of Evangelism Explosion, and himself the pastor of a very successful church, describes two possible ways to evangelize the world. The first is to hold a series of crusades. If there are one thousand people who commit themselves to Christ every night, and this happens not just for a week or for a month but for years and years, the church would grow. The number of Christians however would not even keep pace with the birth rate. This is "addition." he second way is one-on-one evangelism. If just one person brings another to a commitment to Christ each week and that person does the same for someone else the next week and so on, in thirty two years the whole population of the world would be Christian. This is "multiplication." The early church record begins with the phrase "and the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved."(17) but develops later into "the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly."(18). The actual growth pattern of many of our North American churches today is "subtraction" or even "division" rather than "addition" or "multiplication". Most traditional churches have shrunk twenty percent over the last ten years, even though the population has grown ten percent over the same period.
Question for Discussion
What is the growth policy and philosophy of my denomination?
Notes
(11) Acts 6.1. (12) Galatians 3.28. (13) Philippians 2.1-2. (14) 1 Corinthians 13.1-3. (15) 1 Corinthians 13.4,5. (16) 1 Corinthians 13.11. (17) Acts 2.47 (18) Acts 6.
"We are living members of his mystical body"
