Recovering This Doctrine Will Help Heal the Disunity of the Church
Unity, Not Uniformity
The spirituality of the church can offer abundant dividends if we use it rightly and don’t misuse it. We’ve seen the misuse of it with the failure to address the evils of slavery in some cases. We don’t want that—what Charles Hodge called the church avoiding her painful responsibilities. What we want, rather, is a good and helpful use of the spirituality of the church.
I think a good and helpful use can be had if the people of God recognize what it is that we especially have in common. We have in common what God’s word says, and many of us believe that that’s also properly summarized in the ecumenical creeds of the faith, as well as Reformed confessions and catechisms of various sorts.
And so if you think about most of us in many of our churches, we have a very large body of agreement. But in some churches, it’s not enough to agree with what the church teaches about what we all believe in terms of God in Christ and salvation. No, it’s almost more like you have to, on the left, you be something like a member of the Democratic Party or hold those positions; or on the right, a member of the Republican Party or something else.
Empowered Witness
Alan D. Strange
In Empowered Witness, author Alan D. Strange examines the doctrine of the spirituality of the church, urging readers to examine the church’s power and limits and to repress the urge to politicize it.
And the doctrine of the spirituality of the church is saying yes, there are many moral issues that the Bible addresses that we agree on, and that we agree on as church as an institution and even church as an organism. You go out into the world and you live faithfully to what God’s word says. But Christians can also have differences about who should be elected to this office, if there should be term limits, and what he tax code should be. There are all sorts of things that we might have differences on.
And the spirituality of the church reminds us that that’s okay, that we don’t have to be in lockstep uniformity. In fact, I always tell my students that if you insist on uniformity, which is precise sameness, you actually end up damaging unity, because unity always exists within a true diversity. That’s the way the Trinity is: Father, Son, and Spirit are a unity with diversity. And the church is similar. We see the church in Revelation as expressing the one message in every tongue. And so we see great diversity there, and yet the one message being expressed. I believe that a recovery of the spirituality of the church could allow us to enhance and better live in unity, while our diversities may be properly appreciated and don’t seem to undermine that true unity.
So, the spirituality of the Church reminds us that our focus needs to be on evangelism and discipleship and living for Christ in our world, understanding that some of us may have some different ideas about the particulars of that. Part of the doctrine and the spirituality of the church is to say that the Bible does not contain a divine, detailed blueprint for every aspect of life. It contains all the principles we need for living, but we can differ on some of the application. I think if we have a healthy use of the spirituality of the church, that will enhance our unity and our witness to the world.
Alan D. Strange is the author of Empowered Witness: Politics, Culture, and the Spiritual Mission of the Church.
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