When Believers Argue … While the World Watches
I heard a pastor last week share this quote from Augustine.
In essentials, unity;
in non-essentials, liberty;
in all things, charity.
I’ve been pondering that all week. If there’s one thing followers of Jesus should be known for is our love for Jesus and our love for others. But church history often paints a different picture.
Take your friendly neighborhood Puritan. Church leaders love the Puritans. We feel extra spiritual if we read and quote the writings of the Puritans. But many of the Puritans were so intent on being pure—on getting it right—that they often overlooked the necessity for love and grace.
One thing every kid learns when exposed to American history is that the Puritans came to America for religious freedom. That’s true—sorta. They came for religious freedom for themselves. They weren’t just opposed to other religions; they were opposed to other Christians, those whose convictions and doctrines didn’t completely line up with their own. They didn’t even consider them Christian because they weren’t Puritans just like them. “No freedom for you!”
When another group of believers, the Quakers, arrived in New England, the Puritans wouldn’t hear of it. So, in 1656 a series of laws were established in Massachusetts that included the following:
- Ship captains could be fined £100 for knowingly transporting Quakers into the colony. Furthermore, the captain could be imprisoned if he didn’t return those pesky Quakers to the place they came from.
- You could be fined for importing, concealing or distributing Quaker books.
- If a Quaker was caught and convicted, he had an ear removed and was immediately locked up in a “house of corrections” where he would be severely whipped and forced to do hard labor. And don’t even think about having a conversation with this convicted Quaker, or you’ll be in trouble too.
- Don’t like how the Puritan-led government treated the Quakers? Keep your mouth shut or you’ll be fined too. There was a fine for anyone “who shall revile the office or person of magistrates or ministers” [Mofford, The Devil Made Me Do It, p. 69].
I don’t agree with many aspects of Quaker theology, but c’mon. This is a far cry from Augustine’s injunction regarding liberty and charity. (I’d also like to tell you that I don’t agree with every aspect of Puritan teaching and practice, but I’m afraid of being fined.)
In Southern Baptist denomination life, we have spent the last year in debate over the Law amendment. Essentially, this amendment to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Constitution and Bylaws was to add a clause identifying any church that is in friendly cooperation with the SBC as one that “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” The amendment did not pass the two-thirds vote required.
My intention is not to debate the merits or concerns tied to this amendment, but I’ll add this one note: Jeff Iorg presented a well-reasoned explanation and response. (And if anyone wants to debate with me in the comments section regarding the amendment, I will not take the bait.) Instead, I want to express my consternation over how Christians—fellow believers—disagreed. And it’s not the fact that they disagreed that is the concern. It’s how they treated the other side.
I never heard any face-to-face encounters, but why do we need to actually talk to each other when we have social media where we can rant and get the mob who agrees with us to shout HARRUMPH and pick up torches? The name calling, the disparaging of motives and character, and the questioning of whether individuals truly loved God and believed the Bible were out of line. They were wrong.
When Jesus gave the injunction to love one another, He added this:
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
Why don’t more people come to Christ? I’m convinced a huge reason is because we don’t show them what it looks like to follow Christ. We give lip service to being Christians, but our lack of love tells a different story. Yes, we are to love all people even as Jesus does, but the fact that we don’t even love other Christ followers who differ from us in some minor point of theology or practice speaks volumes.
By contrast, the early church was so in love with Jesus and with each other that the whole city of Jerusalem noticed and “every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
Let’s return to that. I want my love for Jesus to be evident in how I talk to you—even when we disagree.
In essentials, unity;
in non-essentials, liberty;
in all things, charity.
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