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One might wish that communion could overcome conflict AT
LEAST in the church. Sad to say, the way one denomination or
tradition celebrates the Lord's Supper as opposed to another
remains to this day as one of the chief causes of division among
Christians. And I know as sure as I breathe that that makes God
GAG! It is a scandal and a shame.
Several years ago, there was a convention of clergy gathered
at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta under the auspices of the Promise
Keepers organization.(1) Between 40- and 50-thousand preachers
were in attendance. (What's that you say? A lot of hot air in
one place? Hmm.) To be sure, I disagree with some of the
Promise Keepers' positions, but two of their basic emphases I
wholeheartedly applaud - one is an end to racial division in our
society (and especially in the church); the other is an end to
denominational division within the church. They are adamant, as
I am, that the church of Jesus Christ is ONE CHURCH, and these
artificial units known as denominations are problematic. As I
have told you before, the only words in the Greek New Testament
that could be translated as "denomination" would better be
translated as SCHISM(2) or HERESY(3).
One of the speakers at the three-day event was the well-known devotional author Max Lucado. Max described the church as
God's boat, a vessel with one purpose - to carry us safely to the
other shore. This is no cruise ship, it is a battleship. We are
not called to leisure, but to service. Each of us has a
different task. Some are concerned with those who are in danger
of drowning, snatching people from the water. Others are
concerned with the care and feeding of the crew.
Though different, we are all the same, for each of us can
tell of a personal encounter with the Captain who bid us come
aboard and follow him. We crossed the gangplank of his grace and
found ourselves here.
And so here we are on one boat, with one Captain, and one
destination. And though our battle is fierce, the boat is safe
for our Captain is strong and the gates of Hell will not prevail
against this grand vessel. Of that there is no concern. This
boat will not sink.
Max says there is concern, however, not with the strength of
the boat, but with the harmony of the crew. You see, when we
first came on board we assumed that everyone here was just like
us. But as we have wandered these decks we have found a few
curious converts. Some wear uniforms we have never seen. Some
sport styles we have never witnessed and we stop them and say,
"Why do you look the way you do?" To which they respond, "We
were about to ask you the same question!"
The variety of dress is not nearly as disturbing as the
diversity of opinions. There is one group, for example, that
clusters every morning for intense study. They promote rigid
discipline and wear somber expressions. "Serving the Captain is
serious business," they say. It is no coincidence that they tend
to congregate toward the back of the boat, the STERN.
There is another regiment deeply devoted to prayer. Not
only do they believe in prayer, they believe in a certain posture
for prayer. They believe you can only talk with God on your
knees with head forward - that is why they can always be found on
this vessel near the BOW.
Still another group has positioned itself near the engine.
They occupy themselves with studying the nuts and bolts of this
ship - they are only comfortable if they can grasp the details.
They are occasionally criticized by those who linger on the top
deck, inspired by the wind in their hair and the sun in their face
who insist, "It is not what you know, it is what you feel."
Some think once you are on the boat you can never get off.
Others say, you would be foolish to go overboard, but the choice
is yours. Some believe you were recruited and subsequently
volunteered yourself for service on this boat. Others believe
you were destined for service before the boat was ever built.
There are those who address the Captain in a private and
personal language, while others think such conversation is
gibberish. There are those who think the officers should wear
special robes and others who think there should be no officers at
all.
Then there is the issue of the weekly meeting at which the
Captain is honored and his instructions read. All agree on its
importance, but some want it loud while others want it quiet.
Some want ritual, others want spontaneity. Some want to
celebrate so they can meditate, others want to meditate so they
can celebrate.
The consequence is a rocky boat. There is trouble on deck.
Fights have broken out between sailors. There have been times,
incredible as it may seem, when one group even refused to
acknowledge the presence of any other group on the ship.
Most tragically, some adrift at sea have chosen not to board
this boat. "Life is rough out here on the choppy seas," they
say, "but, I would rather face the wind and waves than get caught
in a fight between those sailors."
Can there ever be harmony on the ship? That WAS the dream
of the Captain. On the night before his crucifixion he prayed,
"...THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE. As you, Father, are in me and I am
in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe
that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have
given them, so THAT THEY MAY BE ONE, as we are one, I in them and
you in me, THAT THEY MAY BECOME COMPLETELY ONE, so that the world
may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you
have loved me." Four different times in that prayer is the plea,
"THAT THEY MAY BE ONE."
As Max Lucado wrapped up his message to the ministers, he
invited his audience to think of some denomination or Christian
group they had previously insulted or denigrated or put down, and
then go find a member of that group and apologize. It was upset-the-apple-cart as folks climbed over one another to respond.
There were hugs and handshakes, a marvelous moment of forgiveness
and grace.
At the conclusion of the convention, the plan was to have
communion together. Sounds good...until you remember that the
celebration of the Lord's Supper has been and sadly remains a
major bone of contention in Christ's church. Some preachers left
early, unable to overcome theological barriers. Sad. But the
word from those who stayed, as they responded to the movement of
the Holy Spirit, was that the walls of resistance began to
crumble. Differences in the way one group or another understood
the ceremony became less significant. They began to realize that
what united them was far more important than what divided them.
As the chorus has it,
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our Love,
The church - God's battleship. And now you and I are
invited to the Captain's Table along with crew members from
around the world. We will not all understand what we do here in
the same way. But, you know what? So what! That's what! As
our Presbyterian forebear, John Calvin said hundreds of years
ago, "I would rather experience it than understand it."
That love is nourished, nurtured, and deepened at the Table. Jesus says, "Come..." and be blessed.
Amen!
1. February 13-15, 1996 2. See I Corinthians 12:25. schisma - a split or gap ("schism"), lit. or fig.:--division, rent,
schism. Strong's Hebrew-Greek Dictionary 3. See Acts 24:4. hairesis - a choice, i.e. (spec.) a party or (abstr.) disunion:--heresy [which
is the Greek word itself], sect. Strong's Hebrew-Greek Dictionary 4. "We are One in The Spirit," copyright 1966 Peter Scholte, F. E. L. Publishing
We are One in The Spirit, We are One in The Lord.
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.
Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.(4)
Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.
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