On Bitterness with the Church, Part 2 - A Call to Unity

Last week I wrote about how the church often hurts people. This week I want to share one of my favorite quotes that calls Christians to loving unity.

Francis Schaeffer (January 30, 1912 – May 15, 1984) was an Swiss evangelical thinker and philosopher who lived in close Christian community while writing some powerfully challenging books.  His legacy is more in the people he influenced than in the books he wrote, but his words echo deeply for me, especially on this topic.

If you are bitter with the church because of they way it has treated you, then you are in good company.  Schaeffer points out that your own anger is nothing compared to that of Jesus.  In fact, as Christians act poorly towards each other, they are displaying the disease of their own soul and need for conversion. In his essay: “The Mark of A Christian" Schaeffer writes:

Through the centuries, people have displayed many different symbols intended to show that they are Christians.  They have worn marks in the lapels of their coats, hung chains about their necks, and even had special haircuts.  But there is a much better sign – a universal mark that is to last through all the ages of the church till Jesus comes back.

What is this mark?

At the close of his ministry, Jesus made clear what was to be the distinguishing mark of the Christian until His return:

“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  ”

— John 13:33-35

… The church is to be a loving church in a dying culture. How, then, is the dying culture going to consider us? Jesus says

by this shall all people know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.

…In the midst of the world, in the midst of our present culture, Jesus is giving a right to the world. Upon his authority he gives the world the right to judge whether you and I are born-again Christians, on the basis of our observable love toward all Christians.

That’s pretty frightening. Jesus turns to the world and says, “I’ve something to say to you. On the basis of my authority, I give you a right: you may judge whether or not an individual is a Christian on the basis of the love they show to all true Christians.”

In other words, if people come up to us and cast in our teeth the judgment that we are not Christians because we have not shown love toward other Christians, we must understand that they are only exercising a prerogative which Jesus gave them.

And must, must not get angry.

If people say, “You don’t love other Christians,” we must go home, get down on our knees, and ask God whether or not what they say is true. And if it is, then they have a right to have said it.

—-

I’ll be meditating on that for awhile ….

Pastor Tim