Biblical Fellowship: Κοινωνία - Unity among ministers: Blessings

 Blessings

1. Strengthens the Church
2. • Matt 12:25 “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”
   • [Burgess, Advancing Christian Unity] “as long as they agreed they were invincible… When one piece of the wall divides from the other, it foretells ruin.”
   • The Church already faces enough challenges from the outside i.e false teachings, corrupt worldviews, persecution, and cultural pressure. We should not make it harder by weakening one another from within.

2. Defends the Church
3. • Rom 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
   • [Burgess] “We do not accept as Reformed those who deny fundamental matters such as Christ’s deity and substitutionary atonement. Yet differences among the Reformed certainly give an advantage to Roman Catholics which they can use with those who are unsettled. “Look,” they say, “they have no certainty among themselves; they do not know where to stop. The Lutheran judges the Calvinist diabolical.” Unstable and unthinking individuals regard this as a great argument against the truth.”
   • • We must not turn legitimate differences and disagreements into competition and rivalry
     • Ex: I am of Paul, I am of Apollos or CephasI am of Paul, I am of Apollos or Cephas

“Let us bewail the corruption of the best, that they should be carried away with bitterness so far as to neglect the truths of God by giving advantage to the common Enemy.”

3. Prevents Division
4. • Psalm 133:1-3 “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes, It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For life forevermore.”
   • [Burgess] “Unity is of great consequence among the ministers of the gospel because their divisions breed divisions among the people. Differences among teachers breed irreconcilable agitations among the people.”
   • 1 Cor 3 - instead of appreciating the diversity and uniqueness of these ministers as God’s grace to the Church, they highlighted their differences as though they belonged to opposing parties.
   • • Difference is not the same as division, expect it among ministers i.e personalities, areas of emphasis, etc…

4. Edifies Souls
5. • [Burgess] “We should pray to God for unity among ministers because their disputes bring neglect of the chief work of their ministry. This is to build up souls in their way to heaven. This is the purpose for which God has called us to be ministers. When those of us who are ministers fall out with one another and set up opinion against opinion, the work of the ministry is greatly retarded.”
   • Instead of spending their energy in shepherding souls, they spend it arguing with one another… 2 Tim 2:23 “avoid foolish and ignorant controversies knowing that they breed quarrels.”

5. Consistent with God and His Gospel
6. • John 17:21: “that they may all be one… so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” cf. Phil 1:27
   • [Burgess] “Unity among ministers is to be desired because it agrees with their office and call. They preach the gospel of peace, God is the God of peace (Col. 3:15), Christ is the Prince of Peace, and He is our peace reconciling all things. Why then should the minister’s tongue be a tongue of war, as if they were priests to Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, rather than ministers of the gospel?”

5. 2. • in times of disagreement, correction and defending doctrinal truths
      • Christ prayed that above all these things, ‘they may be one, even as we are one’
      • Burgess quotes Jerome: “Divisions are the loss of friends, the gain of enemies, and the public kindling of God’s anger.”

Maintain that our unity keeps Christ and the gospel at the center and not ourselves

Resources:

Anthony Burgess. Advancing Christian Unity; 1689LBCF