Unity Among Those Well Taught

“UNITY AMONG THOSE WELL TAUGHT”

Romans 12.16

This message from God’s Word should be preached to pastors. It’s a message that I feel everyone needs. It’s a message about unity. But it’s not a message that’s needed by every Christian. It’s a message that’s needed by only some Christians. Let me explain.

In John chapter 17, we have recorded the high priestly intercessory prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ prayed to the Father shortly before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is the prayer of this chapter; you’ve no doubt been told, which is the real Lord’s Prayer. The prayer that begins “Our Father, which art in heaven” being the model prayer that the Lord used to teach His disciples how to pray.[1] In this prayer found in John chapter 17, the Lord spoke these words to His Father in verses 20 and 21:

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21 That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou has sent me.

In this portion of the Lord’s prayer, the Savior asks His Father to bring believers together in unity and indicates that unity is important to the willingness of the world to believe the Gospel message.

How important is unity? Is unity to be strived for at all costs? Is unity more important, say, than doctrinal purity or personal holiness? And by that I mean, am I to practice unity with those who believe significantly differently than I do or with those who are openly committing testimony-destroying sin? Unity is extremely important, but it is not most important. There are things more important than unity among believers if the examples of the Bible are to be learned from.

Take the example of the Apostle Paul. You would be hard-pressed to find a Christian more committed to the concept of unity among believers than the Apostle Paul. He stressed the need for unity among Jewish and Gentile believers in a day when racism and prejudice, Jews for Gentiles and Gentiles for Jews, existed even in the Church house. Aren’t you glad we’ve grown beyond that? But in Galatians chapter 2, we see this great advocate of Christian unity demonstrating his willingness to throw unity to the wind to counter the threat to doctrinal purity posed by Simon Peter’s sinful behavior. Galatians 2.11 reads,

“But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”

Paul appears to be sacrificing unity for the sake of doctrinal purity. I wish the local ministerium would read this chapter from God’s Word. And I wish some our Church members were a little more diligent in following Paul’s spiritual example, especially when it comes to endorsing sinful conduct that is bragged about on social media. You don’t have to “like” everything someone posts.

What Paul did that he refers to in Galatian 2.11 was to threaten to separate from Peter because Peter improperly and inappropriately separated from some Gentile Christians. In other words, Peter was guilty of practicing separation ... for the wrong reason. The danger Paul saw was that Peter’s improper separation from Christian brethren risked the purity of the Gospel message. That is why Paul was so strongly against what Peter did.

So, unity is important, but it’s not the most important consideration for a group of Christians. The most important consideration is the truth. And unity, real unity among believers, can only rightly and properly be achieved when the unity is based on truth. Unity that’s not based on truth isn’t real unity. It’s outward conformity to a manmade pattern or standard, not the inward conformity to Christ that’s the hallmark of genuine unity. Paul strove for unity that was based upon truth and wouldn’t tolerate even the appearance of unity based upon doctrinal error.

The most tragic example of disunity among Christians found in the Bible may be the divisions we read about in the Corinthian Church. In First Corinthians 1.11-12 Paul responds to a plea for help from certain members of the Church and writes,

11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Cloe, that there are contentions among you.

12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

You can search First Corinthians high and low, and you will not find a single passage suggesting that important doctrinal differences were the cause of their disunity. To be sure, there were some differences. For example, some of the Corinthians were completely confused about the proper use of and God’s original intent for the gift of tongues. Even though Paul spends three chapters dealing with the issue in one way or the other, the bottom line that is found in First Corinthians 3.1-5 is that their divisions were the result of spiritual immaturity.

Do you know what that tells me? It tells me that someone who walks out of here and stops attending our Church, or who stays in the Church and causes trouble, for reasons other than serious doctrinal errors on my part, is displaying his or her spiritual immaturity if he is not displaying a lost condition. Because, if you are spiritual, you will not allow minor things to disrupt unity. Why not? Because unity is important. Amen? And if the problem is a major thing, then it’s your responsibility as a Christian to deal with the problem rather than running away from the problem, as Paul properly did with Peter.

So, we know unity is important. The Lord Jesus Christ shows us its importance. And serious doctrinal error is a proper reason for separating from someone in error after you have attempted to restore him to the truth.[2] Thank God, Paul was willing to separate from Peter. Also, thank God he didn’t have to. The issue that Paul and Peter disagreed about was one that had major implications on the salvation and spiritual growth of Gentile Christians like you and me. Again, thank God, Peter responded to Paul’s confrontation and corrected his sinful behavior.[3]

If unity is sacrificed for reasons other than big doctrinal differences, however, the reason can usually be traced to spiritual immaturities, such as with the Corinthians. The question then arises, “What about those who are pretty mature, spiritually? What about those who are well-grounded in God’s Word? Can disunity become a problem in the lives of those who are spiritual and who are well taught?”

Yes, my friends, disunity can become a problem even in the lives of those quite mature spiritually and those well taught in the Bible. Consider our text for today, Romans 12.16, and apply it to your own life. From what we know of the Roman believers, they were a group of rather spiritual Christians who were pretty well taught. Paul’s letter to the Romans, after all, doesn’t approach the readers as though they are new Christians or heretics but seeks to clarify and solidify what had been taught to them previously.

That describes most of you believers here. Most of you are maturing spiritually. And you don’t have serious doctrinal errors that are causing significant problems in your life. You know that Jesus Christ is God. You are committed to the inerrancy of Scripture. You understand that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Does that knowledge guarantee spiritual unity? Did it guarantee spiritual unity for the Roman Christians? No. Considering only the human aspect of this important thing called unity, unity doesn’t automatically result from an agreement on matters of significant doctrine.

Neither does unity necessarily result from spiritual maturity. There are mature Christians all over town who demonstrate virtually no unity. When you are dealing with those who are doctrinally sound and spiritually mature, there must be conscious decisions made and implemented if you desire the unity that only God gives.

In our text for today, Romans 12.16, we see three attitudes that provide the environment in which God blesses His people with unity. I invite you to stand as we read that portion of God’s Word together:

“Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.”

Are you a growing, fairly mature, Christian? And are you fairly well-grounded in God’s Word? Are you cultivating your spirituality with a good devotional life? By and large, do you pretty well know what you believe, and why? Good.

Then, here are three things you need to pay attention to because these are the areas that typically hinder members from experiencing unity in their respective Churches as we at Calvary Road Baptist Church seek to demonstrate God-given unity for the sake of reaching our area for Christ:

First, UNITY AMONG THE SPIRITUALLY MATURE REQUIRES CONCURRENCE

Paul begins this verse by writing, “Be of the same mind one toward another.” Let’s consider what this does not mean, and then what it does mean:

By this, Paul does not refer to conformity of thoughts or uniformity of thoughts. One of the serious problems Bible Christianity has is the perception by non-Christians that Christians think everyone should always and in every case think exactly as they do. While it is true that there are Christians who do think this way, such is not a reflection of Biblical Christianity. What Christians are committed to is the concept of thinking God’s thoughts after Him.[4] For that reason, I must be very careful to preach what I believe to be the mind and heart of God, as it is revealed in His Word, and to convince my audience to conform your thoughts, not to my mind, but the mind of God. You must be conscious, as I seek to be conscious, of the fact that my mind and the mind of God are not coincident. As I seek to persuade you to conform your thoughts to God’s thoughts, I, too, seek to conform my thoughts to God’s thoughts. This does not mean we must all think the same thing, which is what I think since I am the pastor, or what Paul thinks, since he is the apostle. This is because everyone comes to the truth from a different direction, a different distance, and a different perspective. And no one has arrived.

What Paul does refer to is unity of thoughts amid great diversity. Remember, Paul, the apostle of unity is also the apostle of diversity. It is from him that we learn our greatest lessons about how different we are as Christians. Was it not Paul who told us of the different spiritual gifts we each have from the Holy Spirit?[5] Was it not Paul who told us of the different administrations or offices Christ gives each of us?[6] Was it not Paul who told us of the different operations in our ministries from God?[7] When you consider that every Christian has three potential variables in his spiritual makeup (gifts, administrations, and operations), not counting the innumerable differing factors in our lives such as intellect, education, background, etc., it is ridiculous to think that Paul wanted Christians to strive for some kind of cookie-cutter type conformity of thought. No. Paul realized, and we need to realize that genuine unity can be achieved, real unity can only be achieved, amid great diversity. Part of that unity has to do with the concept of concurrence. To “be of the same mind one toward another” does not mean robot-like similarity in our thinking. Rather, it refers to the conscious choice that one Christian makes to work together with others as a team to accomplish a greater goal than could ever be achieved by one person alone. Is that not what he is trying to convince the Romans of regarding his missions effort? Sure. “Let’s work together to reach Spain. Let’s do together what we cannot do separately.” And notice how Romans 15.5-6 fits into this understanding:

5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Genuine unity among those who are a part of Calvary Road Baptist Church, assuming a moderate level of spirituality and maturity, requires that that you and I concur, that we agree on some things, that we agree to work together to glorify God by seeking to win the San Gabriel Valley to Jesus Christ and to make the name of Christ known among the nations. If you are not willing to concur with us in that regard, you are a hindrance to our achieving spiritual unity and getting the job done.

Next, UNITY AMONG THE SPIRITUALLY MATURE REQUIRES CONDESCENSION

The next thing Paul writes is, “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” This sentence naturally falls into two parts:

First, “Mind not high things.” The human mind quite easily can be drawn to things lofty and noble. This is okay unless the high things you mind are in the spiritual realm. Let me explain. When a Christian gets a notion that he has an aptitude for things superior to soul winning, superior to teaching a Sunday School class, superior to visiting the sick and infirm, superior to attending Church faithfully (with all the inconveniences and difficulties related to Church life in the real world), then that person is minding high things. You be careful about high things. When you treat such things as evangelism and prayer meeting, such things as tithes and offerings, such things as witnessing and the Sunday night service, such things as being sociable with new people after Church, such things as the nursery, such things as helping others clean up messes left behind by others, as not being lofty enough for one so noble as you ... a barrier to spiritual unity has been erected in your thinking.

The second portion of this sentence says, “But condescend to men of low estate.” Over some time, after someone comes to know Christ and experiences spiritual growth, so many changes have occurred in his life that he seems to have less in common with the new Christian than the new Christian has with unsaved people. Oh, you recognize that you and the new Christian are going to heaven. You may even attend the same Church. But you have become rather refined. You are somewhat sophisticated, in a spiritual sort of way, of course. You don’t feel comfortable around crude, immature Christians, with their unrenewed value systems. Hey, sometimes Christians are so averse to condescending to men of low estate that if they do attend Church, they prefer to fellowship only with a properly filtered and particularly devoted group of like-minded believers who are advanced in their Christian lives ... like they happen to be. I remember a couple who used to attend with their two children. Then they moved to the Inland Empire, and several years later their marriage ended in divorce. When I next saw the woman and learned she was living once more with her parents, I invited her back to our Church. Her response was, “Oh, pastor, I so much enjoyed my time at Calvary Road. But I have grown way beyond Calvary Road Baptist Church’s ability to minister to me.” I smiled.

You be careful, my friend. There is much that has risen up in this world that seeks to distract Christians from the kind of unity that is proper. Often that which displaces what God has to offer in and through His Church, which seems so fraught with difficulties, so contaminated by Christians who are not as committed as you would like for them to be, is so uncluttered and spiritual looking. You take a hint from those in our congregation who have quite within their reach the praise of this world (if they wanted it), and who could ascend to significant heights (if they chose to abandon God’s plan of the local Church). Praise God, they have not gotten too big for their britches, as have some who want to deal only with the so-called “Christian winners” of this world who have little time for those who are struggling. I am thankful for our people who condescend to men of low estate. How do they do that? They allow men like me to be a pastor to them, for one thing. They conduct themselves to be approachable by anyone, regardless of any so-called status or lack of attainment, for another thing. Hey, when you’re a spiritual believer who can sit down with anyone, and when that person can feel comfortable in your presence, you’re where God wants you to be. Oh, he or she may get quite uncomfortable with what you say about sin and salvation. But when he or she can be comfortable with you, that’s one less barrier to unity in your life. So, for unity, there must be concurrence, the willingness to band together with others to achieve a common goal. And there must be condescension, the willingness to deal with the institution and the people that God wants you to deal with, the willingness to roll up your sleeves for the Lord and do things and deal with difficult people His way.

Finally, UNITY AMONG THE SPIRITUALLY MATURE REQUIRES CONCEIT ... NOT

Paul concludes this verse by writing, “Be not wise in your own conceits.”

Looking at the situation from the other side of the coin, we may have here, in summary form, the most likely cause for disunity among those who are spiritually mature. Don’t think the spiritually mature can’t have conceits. Don’t think a spiritually mature person doesn’t have to deal with insidious pride in his life. Every Christian has to deal with pride throughout his or her entire life.

Think about what can happen. Think about what does happen. You are spiritually mature. You are spiritual. You want to serve God effectively. But, for crying out loud, all these carnal Christians, all these uncommitted Christians in the Church, forever seem to bog things down and get in the way.

So, what’s the temptation? What’s the not-always-subtle tendency? It’s difficult to focus in on a common objective and goal with people who have so much spiritual clutter in their lives. The desire to rise above it all is strong. The desire to associate only with those whose motives are pure, like yours, whose actions are logical, like yours, is powerful.

But seen on the flip side, such urges are manifestations of conceit. Thinking ourselves to be wiser than we are, even when we have reached a stage of spiritual maturity, we forget that God has done things in this fashion for a purpose. He wants us to join together with those who are spiritually immature, with those less committed than we are, those not quite so educated. Thus has it always been.

So, to think that you have a better way than God’s way is actually “being wise in your own conceits.” It’s subtle pride. And it interferes with unity in the Church. It is this problem which may be the greatest problem associated with unity in our Church. Disunity among those who ought to be spiritually mature enough to know better, but who are lacking concurrence, who are lacking condescension, and who have an abundance of conceit.

We don’t have big doctrinal differences here at Calvary Road Baptist Church. Every person that I am aware of is comfortable with and in agreement with every single important doctrine taught in the Bible. You, folks, are orthodox, historical, Christians.

For the most part, you are not carnal. We do not have a significant party spirit at Calvary Road that I am aware of. And by party spirit, I refer to the tendency to line up behind this Bible teacher or that preacher.

Perhaps folks in this Church would line up in opposition to my leadership if they thought they could get away with it. But with the deacons and other good men and women in this Church, no one would get away with it. They are as committed to this ministry as I am. Opponents would have to leave, as they have from time to time done.

But Christians who are well taught are susceptible to disunity, nevertheless. We lack in that vibrant unity that is necessary to accomplish great things for Jesus Christ. And as near as I can tell, the text I have preached on this evening identifies the areas where we at Calvary Road need work.

How about you, Church member? Do you lack that personal commitment to Christ that results in the Church unity that we so desperately need to accomplish the work that God has set before us? Let’s review.

About concurrence, are you with us? Are you really with us? That is, are you willing to modify your agenda for the accomplishing of this great Gospel task? Or is your family’s agenda sacrosanct? Is your career agenda more important? Is your leisure more demanding of your time than the cause of Christ is?

You are invited to be a unique individual. God wants you to be who He made you be. But understand, He desires that we voluntarily forego certain opportunities we have for Him, for His cause, for His Church. And when a congregation does this as a whole, when we each give up some of ourselves for the benefit of the cause of Christ, we have taken a major step toward removing obstacles to the unity our Lord Jesus Christ so earnestly prayed for.

With regard to condescension, are you willing to humble yourself? And by that, I refer to your involvement in so-called humble ministries and your involvement with so-called men of low estate. Does the complaint “How can I mount up with wings of eagles when I’m surrounded by turkeys” describe the way you feel?

Every Christian who has been saved for a long time feels that way from time to time. And frequently we look to greener pastures on the other side of the fence, dealing with things more orderly than a cluttered and disorganized Church, para-church ministries that are more smooth-running than we typically see here.

Hey, who doesn’t want to do big things for God? Who isn’t concerned about his kid hanging around some of the carnal Church kids? But that’s the difference between Church and para-church. That’s the difference between Christian and para-Christian.

How in the world do you think the Jewish Christians felt about Gentile Christians in their congregations back in the day? “Those filthy Gentile Christians. Probably not a single one of them were virgins when they married. Their kids are probably all fornicators. And they look and act like little swine. I don’t want my kids hanging around them. They’re a bad influence.”

That’s not even considering how some Jewish Christian adults felt about some adult Gentile Christians. “Why, they don’t even think like we think. They are so illogical and emotional. They have no heritage of Biblical truth.”

That’s right, my friend. They, which is to say we, are men and women of low estate. Want to know the single most significant difference between Simon Peter and Paul? Want part of the explanation of why Paul was used the way he was and Peter was used the way he was? Paul really knew how to condescend to men of low estate, with Gentiles. While Peter could never quite bring himself to be humble enough to comfortably deal with folks like us.

In the end, disunity can be seen for what it really is. Conceit. We think our value system is the proper one to live by. We think ourselves to be so wise that we have the right to evaluate and decide from whom to separate and from whom not to separate for reasons that are not Scripturally mandated.

You may go to Church with these people. You may enjoy their casual company. But you will never open your life up to them. You will never expose your children to them. That, my friend, is a barrier to spiritual unity.

We have not deemed acceptable those who have been accepted by God. So, without the kind of unity that we might have had, without the unity that can only come from concurrence, from condescension, that can only come when conceit is properly discarded, we will win some few to Christ. We will see some lives changed from time to time. But we will not, we cannot, lay siege to our community.

These are the factors that affect unity, not in the lives of the doctrinally unsound, or in the lives of the spiritual babes, but in the lives of those well taught, those who are spiritually mature. Have these things, these requirements for unity, been addressed in your life, my Christian friend? If they have not been, might you be standing in the way of your Church accomplishing greater things for God than have been accomplished to date?

Move out of the way by drawing closer to the Lord and dealing with this issue properly. Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty serving the Lord. Come on down here with us working class Christians and quit being uppity. Together, with the unity the Lord prayed for, imagine what we can do for Him. And imagine what other Churches that are comprised of doctrinally sound folk who are spiritual could do.

Beloved, this is a message that pastors of good Churches need to pay heed to. This is a message that we at Calvary Road need to pay heed to. Three final comments before I conclude.

I’m not sure you are of the same mind one toward another unless there is some common behavior being exhibited by you. How can you be with us in our attempts to reach this community with the Gospel if you don’t actually work to get the Word out with us?

And about minding high things and condescending to men of low estate. Who gets to see the inside of your house? Who gets to play with your kids, under your supervision, of course? Who gets invited over to your house for dessert? Anyone at all? Just the pastor? Just the young and successful? Remember, Christ condescended.

Finally, about being wise in your own conceits. Let us realize that our Christian lives will never be neatly packaged and wrinkle-free. We will never be without frustrations and irritations. Your children will never be without friends who at times improperly influence them.

If your life is that neatly packaged and wrinkle-free, you have achieved that remarkable feat only by insulating yourself from the people God would bring into your life to challenge you, to help you grow, and to remind you how much you need God’s help. Let us thank God that, as a Church, we are not childishly carnal, and that we are not doctrinally unsound. But let us realize that accompanying blessings are new challenges, not the least of which is the challenge to choose to be a united people.

Perhaps that’s a decision you need to make, by deciding to open up your home to others, by deciding to become a better witness, and by deciding to submit your personal conversion testimony to pastoral review and examination if you have never before done that. Or, perhaps, you are here without Christ. I invite you to come and talk to me. This message has been directed primarily to Church members, but perhaps the Spirit of God is dealing with you at this time. If so, or if you have any question, please come and talk to me.

__________

[1] Matthew 6.9-13

[2] Titus 3.10

[3] Acts 15.7-12; 2 Peter 3.15

[4] 1 Corinthians 2.16

[5] 1 Corinthians 12.4

[6] 1 Corinthians 12.5

[7] 1 Corinthians 12.6

Question? Comment?

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Fill out the form below to send him an email. Thank you.