We Are One

I was stricken yesterday with the events recorded in Joshua 22:21-30. In that part of the narrative, the two-and-a-half Israeli tribes whose land was east of the Jordan River were confronted by religious, political, and military representatives from the rest of Israel. The east-siders had built an altar, and the west-siders assumed that meant the east-siders would begin worshiping God their way, on their turf, possibly even including worship of other gods. They were ready to write off the east-siders if they didn't turn from their wickedness.

It turns out that the east-siders weren't being wicked at all. They suspected that the Jordan River would become more than a geographical dividing line, that the west-siders would think of themselves as a separate unit from the east-siders. Were that to happen, the east-siders felt they would be prevented from going to Jerusalem to worship, to share in the life of the Israeli nation. The altar was a reminder to both west- and east-siders that Israelis on both side of the Jordan River were still Israelis and should be accepted as such. People on both sides should be free to live as such, rather than treating one another like non-Israelis.

What struck me is how much this sounds like certain segments of the Church on North America (if not the West itself). I perceive there to be significant, understandable differences between the Church (meaning the universal group of believers in Jesus called the "Body of Christ" in 1 Corinthians 12) and the world (meaning those who do not believe). Scriptures are clear that faith line between the Church and the world is inevitable.

What the Scriptures do not say, however, is that faith lines between local churches, denominations, and individuals are inevitable. We have several humans in the Church, so we have many different experiences, understandings, and explanations of Jesus Christ. There are doctrinal and cultural dividing lines that separate some local churches, denominations, and individuals. Too frequently, these doctrinal and cultural divides have become battlegrounds more fierce than those created by our faith lines.

Why is that? As Christians, we even have a symbol - the cross - that should remind us that we have sisters and brothers in other camps around us. There are people in the family of God in Christ across our doctrinal and cultural lines that serve our God, who are not forsaking Christ. As the east-siders in Joshua 22 mentioned to the west-siders, natural dividing lines, whether geographical, doctrinal, cultural, or whatever, ought not to separate us. We aren't different people; we are one people. Our different camps/tribes aren't different nations; we're all the Body of Christ. There is no weaker, useless part of the Body, regardless of how unimportant or insignificant another that part seems. Each part has something to contribute, has equal rights in Christ, and has every opportunity for freedom to live as the people of Christ.

Since that is the biblical design, what can we do to extend peace to sisters and brothers in other camps, and how can we all join together to worship our great Lord together?

LE