To those who have cracked the problem of unity in the church.

Listen: 

Unity in the church, amongst believers, was an essential thing for Paul the Apostle. On multiple occasions, he either wrote about the need for unity directly or it was implied through one of the many "one another" passages. Many a church leader has pondered this need for unity, have taught extensively on its practicalities, and worked tirelessly with members of their churches to promote it -- all to be met with tension in the church, relational strains with their members, and sometimes disunity that leads to division. 

Well, I want to offer some hope to church leaders everywhere.  Right in the middle of my own unity prepping, studying, teaching, and training, I accidentally found that there are some people who have already solved the unity problem. They were right around us and were probably there all along but went unnoticed by us pastors and teachers. There are at least five types of unity I've discovered with these unity triumphant people who have made themselves manifest to their own unity. Here are those five types, in no particular order. 

Disclaimer: any resemblance to actual people is mostly coincidental. This is meant to represent conglomerations of people, not any one person in particular. I've met multiple people in each of these categories... and most likely, so have you - that is what makes it funny. 

Don't Be A Lone Ranger Christian

Episode 71 - Don't be a Lone Ranger Christian

(Any resemblance to actual people that might occur in this post is purely coincidental and speaks more to the prevalence of this issue and not to my desire to point anyone out.)

There is something new that is plaguing Christian communities. Ok, well... maybe it isn't new, I don't really know, but it is new to me. Actually, now that I think about it, it might not even be new to me, but it is definitely something that is now demonstrating itself in a newly exaggerated state. It is sort of like when an artist draws a caricature of a person: The artist will exaggerate any feature that is slightly noticeable in order to create the caricature. This is what is happening in our Christian Communities - we always had lone-ranger Christians, but it has never been as apparent or as grotesque as it is today. 

Before I proceed, allow me to outline the format of this post. I'll begin by defining the title I've created: The Lone Ranger Christian. After that, I would like to describe the three contributing factors that I believe have exaggerated the noticeable characteristics of The Lone Ranger Christian, creating its current caricature. Finally, I will attempt to, in as brief a way as possible, share a couple of Biblical insights that I hope will battle this issue and strengthen the Church. 

Compelling Community

Stephen Um, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, is speaking on reconciliation and equality within the church, gospel based and focused equality that flows from all that Christ has done for us. As he speaks on this topic, I believe that he makes a valid point when he is speaking on all that the Church ought to be:

Given our cultural moment, a community like this would be incredibly compelling. It is no secret that we live in a climate where inequality is a growing problem. But the thing is, every proposed solution misses this crucial point. Conservatives typically say that charity or philanthropy is the answer, that individuals should share. Liberals, on the other hand more or less go the welfare route -- the state, with our tax dollars in hand, should share. Now both of these are true -- individuals and the state should share!  But both also miss something absolutely crucial (which is why both charity and welfare come off clunky and arrogant, even offensive when you think about it). Both say, "Let me give you what I think you need without taking the time to get to know you, let alone share life with you, so I can just pat myself on the back and return to business as usual with my conscience clear." If reconciliation without justice is oppression ... then justice without friendship is just arrogance!  But we can avoid both dangers by sharing our goods and our lives.

Stephen Um (Commentary on 1 Corinthians: Preach the Word Series)

dream vs. reality

Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. 

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all of its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be every so honest and earnest and sacrificial.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together