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“One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans.”
C.S. Lewis – The Screwtape Letters
In my time as a believer, I’ve noted a general disdain for people and organizations who hold views which are unpopular or conflicting with those of another. Within the Messianic community, I’ve noted a disdain for the Hebrew Roots movement. Likewise within the Hebrew Roots toward the Messianics.
We’ve seen this played out a hundred times.
I recall the age-old joke about a man taking a tour of Heaven. At one point, while walking down a corridor, they pass a door where Saint Peter has him be very silent. Later the man asks why they had to be quiet as they passed by that particular door. Peter replies, “Oh that’s the [insert-denomination]. They think they’re the only ones here.”
Despite the fallacious theology throughout this farce, it contains a fundamental truth. It is a lesson that believers of all stripes need to lay hold of: Derisive is Divisive.
There is a similar-themed quip about a Jewish man who’d been stranded on a deserted island for years. On extracting the man from the island, one of his rescuers remarked about a large shelter there. The man explained that the building was his Synagogue. The rescuer motioned quizzically to second, similar structure. The man responded, “Oh that’s the Synagogue I don’t attend.”
Let’s be clear: God Almighty, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, the Author and Finisher of our faith… has no regard for our opinions. At all. Likewise, He has no regard for the denominations, debates, views or any other construct by which we divide ourselves. As I have often reminded myself:
“There’s exactly one opinion in the universe that actually matters… and suck it up buttercup, ‘cause it ain’t yours.”
If we refuse to carefully consider viewpoints that differ from ours, we risk placing ourselves in an “echo-chamber”. In this state, we encounter only those ideas we already agree with. We refuse to expand our thinking beyond the lens through which we currently see. We will not gain in understanding due to a lack of new information and thus, we will not grow.
An echo-chamber is an excellent environment for the production of preprogrammed automatons… it’s a terrible environment for the production of mature, learned, disciplined followers of Messiah, capable of ministering to a dying world.
I recall that, as I child my family attended the Church on our military base. There were only two services, Catholic and Protestant. The Church therefore ensured that we had at least three Protestant ministers at all times. These ministers would rotate preaching and service responsibilities. In this way, each denomination received equal ministry time and representation.
Interestingly, it worked. I do recall being vaguely aware of some minor theological differences, but the truth is that they were minuscule. What I actually perceived was one body of believers and one ministry team attending to the needs of the congregation. Perhaps necessity forced the issue, but I perceived a level of unity I’ve scarcely encountered since and that saddens me.
I never hesitated to approach any one of our Pastors with an issue or a question. In fact, while I could give you a lengthy list of names that came through our congregation, I would be hard-pressed to name any of their denominations. What’s more; I believe this is far closer to what the Lord intended than what I would later experience in most “civilian” churches.
So how does this correlate with the perceived schism between the Messianic and Hebrew Roots movements?
Let me pose a question: what message do you think the average, unbelieving American perceives when he hears Christian rhetoric about “one new man”, but then pulls up to an intersection and sees a Church on both sides of the street? Does he see unity, or division? How much weight can our argument hold when our actions defy our claims?
What do you suppose someone unfamiliar with either of these movements thinks when they encounter rhetoric decrying one or the other? From their perspective, the similarities between the groups are overwhelming. Both seem to be founded on an unquenchable thirst for truth. Both seem based on an overriding desire to get back to the purity of the “good news” brought forth by the Messiah. Yet both seem to operate with a general unease toward the other. To the uninformed onlooker, the division seems arbitrary.
Moreover, if a person or group of persons, stands in error on a given issue, how then would they encounter or receive correction? Would this not be preceded by interactive dialogue? Do we, by our attitudes, if not our actions, force ourselves into disparate camps… thereby erecting echo-chambers?
The question I think we – and by that I mean every believer – should be asking ourselves is this; are we actually seeking to unify the body of Messiah? Or are we seeking to establish theological “empires” and defend them at all costs, come hell or high-water?
This is not a call for “unity at any cost” however. I admit that I subscribe to a view that would deem such to be a dangerous-at-best, heretical-at-worst standpoint for any body of believers to take. My purpose in bringing this issue forth is that I see division where I think their shouldn’t be one.
I see a massive movement of believers, all doing the absolute best they can with what they have. All under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit to get to grips with actual, biblical truth. All this in the name of, and undeniable love for the same singular God. It is a thing of absolute beauty to behold and I fear that many on both sides of the issue may be missing it.
As a final thought on the matter; cults form in a vacuum. In the absence of cross-denominational dialogue, error propagates and those who fall victim to false doctrine become increasingly difficult to correct or extract…
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You