The gospel gives the Christian a unique identity. In it we are told that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, yet at the same time we are more loved than we ever dared dream. In Romans 5:8-10 we learn that Jesus had to die for us because we were sinners and enemies of God deserving his wrath. In Hebrews 12:2 we learn that Jesus was glad to die for us; we were the joy set before him. So the gospel both humbles to the dust and exalts to the heavens.
What does this mean for the way we interact with others?
Humbled in disagreement
Given that we are rescued sinners, when we meet those who disagree with us, our identity in Jesus means that we approach people without superiority and with deep respect. We are not better than them. We have been saved by grace and not works; we have nothing to boast about.
Whether the person disagreeing with us is a non-believer (who doesn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God) or a fellow believer (who disagrees with you over a secondary issue), if you have truly understood your identity in Christ, you’re humble, respectful, gracious and kind when people disagree with you. Your manner and your tone are impacted by this and you are given an appreciation of them as a human being and a neighbour who you are called to love as an equal.
United in difference
When it comes to the church, understanding our identity in Christ enables us to be united with others who are different from us. Every group of people have to unite around something they have in common: education, race, hobby, accent, skin colour, nationality, socio-economic status, politics, and a whole host of other things.
Whatever unites you automatically means you (at best) distance yourself or (at worst) demonise those who don’t share that same commonality. We see this at large in our world today: people find it hard to tolerate and connect with people who disagree with them on issues of politics, race, sexuality and gender.
If, however, what unites us is Jesus, we are not only humble towards those who disagree with us; we can also be united with those who disagree with us on secondary issues. As it has famously been said, we’re all united at the foot of the cross. Or maybe even more famously, Paul said this to a first century Roman world divided by race, freedom and gender:
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28
Being saved by grace not only removes all superiority, but it also becomes the glue that means the church should be the one place where people are united across all earthly divides. This was the burden of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 – that we’d be one as he and the Father are one.
Sadly, in many churches this is far from reality. Why? Because the most foundational identity of the people in church is not actually in Jesus, but their politics or their nationality or something else. I sense that the church is being pruned right now as our loving heavenly father disciplines us by asking the question – is Jesus really your most true and foundational identity?
Freedom to flaunt or to serve
A church that really struggled with humility and unity was the first century church in Corinth. They were fiercely divided because they were very proud. Each person assumed he or she was right, and their freedom in Christ meant they could assert their views to the detriment of the whole. Among the things that divided the Corinthian church were the different leaders (chapters 1-4), the different views of meat sacrificed to idols (chapters 8-10) and the different social status (chapters 10-11) .
The Corinthians were so sure of themselves and their freedom that they even had a slogan they liked to repeated regularly, which the Apostle Paul picks up on:
“Everything is permissible” or “I have a right to do anything”
1 Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23
In other words, the Corinthians felt they could flaunt the freedom they had whether that was to do with sexual practice (chapter 6) or eating meat sacrificed to idols (chapter 10). Paul actually doesn’t deny their freedom, but instead he asks them a series of other questions:
Is everything beneficial? (6:12)
Is anything leading you to slavery? (6:12)
Is everything constructive? (10.23)
Does this bring glory to God? (10.32)
Does this cause someone else to stumble? (10.32)
In other words: yes we’re free, but we are free to serve, free to love and free to honour God – not free to be selfish and do what we want. Paul himself, when speaking about himself puts it like this:
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
1 Corinthians 9:19
So yes, we’re free and belong to no-one. We use that freedom to make ourselves slaves to others for their good and for God’s glory. These are challenging verses for our divided world to hear.
Consider the weaker brother or sister
Another church that was struggling to remain united in difference was the church in Rome. For them it was Jewish food laws that were contentious issues. Paul first explains the power of the gospel, and how in Jesus we are given a new identity together (chapters 1-11). He then starts to unpack how we should live out this new identity by serving others in the church (chapters 12), by respecting civil governments (chapters 13) and in loving those who disagree with us on secondary issues (chapters 14-15).
In Rome, there were two groups of people who had different views around food laws and holy days. From what we can discern, the Jewish Christians didn’t feel that you could eat certain meats; on the other hand, the Gentile Christians felt that you could. So the Jews were the weaker brothers (their conscience was weak and would not allow them to eat the meat) and the Gentiles were the stronger brothers (their conscience and understanding of their freedom in Christ was strong, so they could eat the meat).
Into this context Paul gives them three main commands which I summarise as follows:
- Accept one another with a warm heart (14:1-12)
- Walk in love to build up and not destroy (14:13-23)
- Bring glory to God through your unity by imitating Christ (15:1-13)
Even though Paul himself was persuaded you could eat meat (Romans 14:14), he reminds the two groups of Christians that since what unites them is Jesus, and since Christ died for them all (Romans 14:15), they are to not act according to what they are persuaded of, but according to what is loving to the weaker brother or sister. So Paul says things like:
Don’t treat with contempt (14:3)
Don’t judge (14:3)
Stop passing judgement (14:13)
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. (14:19)
Do not destroy the work of God (14:20)
Do not do anything that will cause your brother or sister to fall (14:21)
At each step Paul grounds these commands in the gospel and in the new identity we have in Jesus. No more so than in Romans 15:2-3:
Each of us should please our neighbours for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself.
Loving others in this way doesn’t mean we cannot be persuaded and convinced of our views. It doesn’t mean we should never say anything or try to persuade others. Paul is clear on his view. Elsewhere, Jesus makes it very clear that food does not make one unclean (see Mark 7:20-23 or Acts 11:6-10), but as stated before, we should not insist on our view or flaunt our freedom if it will cause division within the body of Christ.
What is the aim of all this? Paul summarises his point in Romans 15:7.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Covid, masks and differences of opinion
Into what areas of our church life do these issues need to be applied? In recent church history, the dividing secondary issues have been around gifts of the Spirit, church government and women in ministry, and those are still live issues we need to apply these principles to. In wider society, the issues have been around gay-marriage and abortion laws. We need to keep talking graciously and respectfully in areas of disagreement.
More recently, Covid has revealed differences within our world and the body of Christ as to how to respond to the government’s restrictions during the pandemic and the vaccine rollout. Tim and Kathy Keller have both written extremely helpful articles about remaining united where there are political differences (Kathy reminds us that our unity is around the great commission) and where we hold different views on how to engage with culture (from 1 Corinthians 8-10 Tim talks about the three principles of worship, freedom and love). I recommend these articles to you, to read slowly, carefully and prayerfully.
One area for Christ City Church over the coming months will be mask wearing in our larger gatherings. Though there is still some uncertainty, from the current projected guidelines there will be no requirement to wear masks after 22nd October in religious services. Even if the lifting of this restriction is delayed beyond the 22nd of October*, at some point we expect the government to lift it; however, as a leadership team, and as we think about what it means to love the more cautious or more at-risk brother or sister, we want to take a staggered approach. We ask for all those attending our larger gatherings to continue to wear masks. We want to take it step-by-step, so we ask that for the time being, people continue to wear masks for our Sunday services. We understand that this may frustrate or even offend certain people, and to them we ask for patience. We ask you to consider the principles outlined about what it means to “please your neighbours for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself” (Romans 15:2-3).
The devil would love to side-track us by dividing us, tempting us to internal squabbling and gossip. This would not only be devastating on the health of the church, but would stop us being a witness to the city of Dublin.
If you have any questions or suggestions, or would like to chat with one of the leadership team over this or any other issue, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We welcome the conversation and want to hear from you.
Let me leave you with two quotes, from the two articles by Tim and Kathy Keller. Towards the end of his article, Tim says:
Regardless of whether other Christians grow in their understanding of biblical truth the way we understand it, in love we are to do everything possible to stay in relationship, to stay in community with other believers, even those with different cultural opinions. It may mean that in your local congregation you don’t get your way in a number of areas. The worship music is not as you’d like it. The preaching is not as emphatic about certain topics as you’d like it to be. As Paul says throughout, that may mean refraining from language and practices that you believe are valid, that you have a right to, but that grieve some of your brothers and sisters. If they are making their own sacrifices toward you in love, then there is a genuine possibility of a growing unity of mind.
Philippians 2:1-4
Kathy ends her article urging us to keep the great commission central to church life by saying,
The Gospel comes equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit of Jesus to change hearts… That message changes everything: hearts, minds, lives, communities, and it is our privilege to take it to the world.
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Below is a helpful diagram from Vaughan Roberts, adapted by Tim Keller, to help think through decision-making as a Christian.
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*This blog was published based on the the government projections in August to lift mask restrictions on October 22nd. The blog has not been adjusted with the recent changes to the governments plans because the underlying principles still apply and our hope and expectation is that the restrictions will lift gradually over time, so we need to be considerate about how to handle this personally by being aware and sensitive to those who are more cautious and more at risk.