(This is an expanded version of the sermon manuscript I used May 30).
In Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul writes, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Christian unity is a hard thing to come by. When and where it occurs, it must be regarded as a miracle of the Holy Spirit. If a congregation is going to maximize unity, it must do three things.
1. A congregation that wishes to maximize unity must be very clear about what unites it.
For nearly two years, our elders have been defining the basic beliefs and values around which they will offer spiritual leadership to this congregation. They are not changing the basic requirements for membership; they ar not amending the constitution, they are not taking away the freedom and responsibility of each member to interpret the Scriptures for himself or herself, but they are establishing the boundaries of what we will teach and practice when we come together and when we act in the name of the church.
(For those who are interested, we will have small group opportunities later this summer or in early fall to examine the work of the elders. I want to emphasize that, if you find things in their document that you question, the first step is to study carefully the scriptural foundation of their position, and, if you are still concerned, to communicate your concern to the elders who have a procedure in place for considering difficult issues, suggested changes, etc.)
We as a church operate with an authority that is Bible-based, Christ-centered, Spirit-led, and mission-oriented. We have a common calling which we express in our mission statement:
Building a Community of Hope through Jesus Christ
1. Drawing people to Jesus
2. Becoming more like Jesus
3. Doing the work of Jesus
We focus our faith and message around our common beliefs which we summarize in this way:
The Twelve Foundation Stones of Christian Life (Summary)
1. One God (the Father)
2. One Lord (the Son, Jesus Christ)
3. One Spirit (the Holy Spirit)
4. One Faith (in the Gospel)
5. One Hope (in the New Creation)
6. One Baptism (into Christ)
7. One Body (the Church)
8. One Bread and One Cup (the Lord’s Supper)
9. One Book (the Bible)
10. One Plan of Salvation (by Grace, through Faith, for Good Works)
11. One Law (the Law of Love for God, Neighbor, and Fellow Believer)
12. One Mission (Sharing the Gospel in Words and Deeds)
We unite on these foundation stones.
We practice:
The 9 Ways of Christian Spiritual Growth
1. Study
2. Prayer
3. Worship
4. Fellowship
5. Service
6. Giving
7. Showing Compassion
8. Sharing faith
9. Spiritual Honesty
Those are few of the things that unite us. If we know what unites us, we will less likely divide on lesser matters.
2. A congregation that wishes to maximize unity must discipline itself not to introduce unnecessarily divisive matters.
Some divisive issues will necessarily arise and must be decided. For such issues, we have spelled out a decision-making process that will be led by the elders. It is a Bible-based, prayer-grounded process that aims to establish as much consensus as possible before proceeding to any votes. Sometimes the consensus created through such a process is sufficient so there will not need to be winners and losers in a voting process. Other times, when a final vote must be taken, those whose opinions or preferences do not prevail will at least know that they have been heard, valued, and treated with fairness and respect.
Second, we intend to train our Sunday school teachers, worship speakers, small group leaders, and so forth, in how to keep their teachings on solid ground around which most Bible-believing Christians can unite. That means usually steering clear of speculative points on which Bible-believing Christians are not united and steering clear of most political discussions. When it is necessary to address controversial issues, it should be done in a Bible-based and even-handed manner. While it is proper and necessary for the church to address moral issues that are clearly addressed by Scripture, it is improper to carry those discussions into arguing about particular political parties, candidates, or legislative proposals. For example, it is perfectly appropriate for us to encourage Creation Care, the development of local, sustainable food production, and local, sustainable job creation. But we as a church do not have to get into what government should do about these concerns. If we show restraint in expressing our political opinions, then Democrats and Republicans, libertarians and distributionists, conservatives and liberals, not to mention idiosyncratic independents, can work together peacefully to build a community of hope through Jesus Christ.
3. A congregation that wishes to maximize unity must work hard to develop appreciation and understanding of all Bible-based spiritual practices that present opportunities for spiritual enrichment.
Rather than approach the matter of different traditions of spiritual life as an issue in which there must be winners and losers, right and wrong, it is far, far better if we will all seek to stretch ourselves to learn to appreciate the richness that each tradition brings to our Christian lives. This summer, Judy and I will be offering a series of twelve sermons about Six Streams of Living Water that can enrich our spiritual experience, two sermons on each stream. The Six Streams concept is publicized by the Renovaré organization for which the best known leaders are Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and James Bryan Smith. Among Renovaré leaders are representatives from across North America and all continents--Quakers, Methodists, Southern Baptists, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Nazarenes, non-denominational mega-churches, and a lot more Christian groups--working together. They prove that united Christian work is possible. Unfortunately, churches of our day tend to be divided into groups that practice only two or three of the Six Streams and view the other streams with suspicion or hostility. This was not true of our Restoration Movement founders Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell, for whom all the Six Streams were active parts of their spiritual lives. Let’s preview the Six Streams and their place in our Stone-Campbell heritage.
Before we list the Six Streams, let’s be clear that there is a negative stereotype in circulation among some Christians about each of the Six Streams. But when we live out each of the Six Streams with wisdom, discernment, and appropriate self-discipline, each steam contributes to the spiritual vitality and balance of our individual lives, of our local congregation, and of the body of Christ as a whole. There are some bad apples in each barrel, but, if we sort things out, that should not keep us from enjoying the good fruit.
Stream 1. The Contemplative Tradition and the Prayer-Filled Life
The negative stereotype here is of people who have withdrawn into private devotion, who are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good, who lack practical strength (and for men, masculinity).
But this stream at its best is about our personal devotional relationship to God and about our examining our lives in the presence of God. It is about creating the time and space to listen to God, to express our love for God and to let God shape us. Some of the toughest Christian men in history have fought great spiritual battles by means of this tradition.
Our founder Barton Stone believed that only a prayer-filled life could be lived with true love and devotion to God and with consequent Christ-like character and spiritual empowerment for serving the mission of Christ.
Our founder Alexander Campbell even used the word stream when he wrote of this tradition: “We need…to cultivate a prayerful temper habitually and constantly…. Our hearts cannot be kept right…(except by) living near, very near to God, in our daily and constant meditations, prayers, and thanksgivings. The stream of …(prayerful living) is a clear, constant, tranquil, swelling current that bears the soul nearer to …God.… Say not this will interfere with your business of life. Time is given you for no other purpose than to be saved…, purified, sanctified, and fitted for heaven; and your daily and constant business is, to give all diligence to make your calling and your (divine) election sure.”
Stream 2. The Evangelical Tradition and the Word-Centered Life
The negative stereotypes of evangelical in today’s world include the words: angry, judgmental, right-wing, manipulative, shallow, ignorant, and so forth. But true and beneficial evangelicalism is founded on (1) the dependability of the Word of God revealed in the Scriptures and made flesh in Jesus Christ, (2) the necessity of being born again, and (3) the importance of proclaiming the saving, transforming Christian message. By this criteria, our founders Stone and Campbell were unquestionably evangelicals and clearly saw themselves as such. Stone and Campbell had very different worship styles and some theological differences, but it was their common allegiance to the evangelical stream that forged and maintained their unity and made them so effective as our movement spread rapidly across the American frontier.
Stream 3. The Holiness Tradition and the Virtuous Life
The negative stereotype of the holiness tradition, truer at some point in the past than now, is that it is about not doing things like dancing, playing cards, or watching movies; about being prim and prudish.
But the holiness tradition at its best is about cultivating the positive godly qualities of living toward which all true Christians should aspire. Both our founders Stone and Campbell saw as a major purpose of our post-conversion Christian lives that we be transformed into the likeness of Christ and that we live out this likeness in moral purity in our daily lives. For Stone, it was the gradual and continual emergence of Christ-like character in new believers that assured us that they had indeed been born again, and it was their Christian lifestyle that testified to their unsaved neighbors of the truth of the gospel. Campbell said that the everyday aspiration of the Christian should be, “Make me by thy transforming grace, Lord Jesus, daily more like thee.” They saw the development of this holy character as one of the major purposes and benefits of Christian fellowship.
Stream 4. The Social Justice Tradition and the Compassionate Life
Just as the evangelical tradition carries a negative stereotype in many liberal churches, so the social justice tradition carries a negative stereotype in many conservative churches: it is seen naïve do-goodism and as aimed at leftwing politics. This is truly unfortunate. The Protestant social justice tradition was born from evangelicalism and had a long and impressive history within evangelicalism before the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century split of Protestants into liberal and conservative camps. Social justice went to the liberal camp and evangelicalism went to the conservative camp, and the church was much the poorer for the split in both cases. Living before the split, our founders Stone and Campbell saw social justice causes as extensions of their call to Christian holiness. In various ways, both spoke, wrote, and acted compassionately against the wrongful use of force in the oppression and deprivation of fellow human beings. Stone, for instance, found a sacrificial and informal way around that laws that seemed to forbid him from freeing the slaves he had inherited. He moved away from them, from Kentucky to Illinois, leaving behind his property and church associations in Kentucky, but maintaining a lifelong interest in the spiritual and social well-being of his former slaves.
Stream 5. The Charismatic Tradition and the Spirit-Filled Life
The negative stereotype of the charismatic tradition is associated with speaking in tongues, extreme manifestations of spiritual gifts, fascination with wild prophecies, all of it without much exercise of Bible-based discernment. As the Renovaré organization uses the term charismatic, it focuses simply on the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers, not on the extreme practices. The Bible is clear that the operation of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers and in the life of the church is essential. Our founder Barton Stone put it this way: “The denial of the direct operation of the Spirit cuts the very nerves of prayer.… Such a doctrine stands opposed to the spirit and practice of Jesus, (who is) our pattern, to the doctrines and example of the apostles and primitive saints, and to the experience of every living Christian.” Stone was open to extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit such as happened at the great 1802 revival, sort of the Restoration Movement Pentecost, he led in Cane Ridge, Kentucky, but Stone also was carefully discerning about such practices, evaluating them according to Bible-based criteria. Although Alexander Campbell was not inclined toward extraordinary manifestations of the Holy Spirit, he respected the faith of Barton Stone. Furthermore, he believed that the Spirit who had inspired the Scriptures also actively and personally worked in the lives of baptized believers to enable us to understand and apply the truths of Scripture. Campbell’s evangelist Walter Scott presented the Five-Finger Exercise as the foundation of Christian living; the fifth finger was “the gift of the Holy Spirit.” It is rather hard to get around that. It is the heritage on which our church was built.
Stream 6. The Incarnational Tradition and the Sacramental Life
The negative stereotype of the sacramental tradition is that it is about dead ritualism, about going through the motions with little or no spiritual awareness. The positive emphasis in this tradition is making God’s presence visible in the concrete details of daily life. This applies first to the actions that the church has historically viewed as sacraments, most broadly Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These two acts were so much an emphasized part of the Stone-Campbell movement that the Baptists accused Stone and Campbell of being sacramentalists, which apparently was a dirty term to the Baptists of that day. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper were important to Stone and Campbell because they applied the grace of God to the hearts of believers. Barton Stone did not leave his sacramentalism at the church. He saw the physical labor of farming and the intimate joys of marital love as sacramental as well. Everything came from the hand of God, and every experience was capable of conveying something of God.
This summer, we will be exploring how we can strengthen the unity of our church and enrich our spiritual experience through the Six Streams of Living Water. We have representatives of all the Six Streams in this congregation, but sometimes we fear one another rather than respecting and understanding one another. Sometimes we look at Streams with which we have little experience as threatening rather than as potentially enriching. I deeply hope that we can begin to see the possibilities of mutual enrichment that exist right here in our fellowship and in the benefits of all Six Streams of Living Water.
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