WHO'S THE REAL HERETIC?

This week I launched a brand new podcast with some friends called "Heretic Happy Hour" and so far it's performing better than we expected.

In our very first episode we talked about the word "Heresy" and where it comes from.

The actual word means "causing division" and the emphasis is on the sin of dividing the Church, not about false teaching.

Unity is a big deal for Jesus. He prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are one. He said that our unity would be a sign to the world that Jesus was actually the Messiah sent from God.

This is also why Jesus commanded us to love one another as He has loved us - which is to say - extravagantly and unconditionally.

Paul also stressed unity in his epistles to the early Christian assembly. He rebuked the Corinthians for dividing over which Apostle they like best. He reminded the Galatians that we are no longer divided by race, or status, or gender, but that we are all one in Christ. He rebuked the Romans for dividing over whether or not eating meat sacrificed to idols was right or wrong and told them to each be convinced in their own mind, but to remain in unity as brothers and sisters in Christ.

He even suggested that it was ok to just allow oneself to be wronged as long as unity in the Body of Christ was maintained.

Unity was - and is - crucial. People will know that we are the followers of Christ if we have love for one another. So, it's a very big deal.

It's why Paul warned us in Titus to warn a divisive person twice and then have nothing more to do with them if they refused to stop dividing the Church.

So, the idea of dividing that Body was heresy. It went against everything that Jesus and His Apostles stood for.

Heresy, is about division. This means one could be guilty of heresy while teaching the truth.

How? By using the truth to divide the Body of Christ.

One could also be a heretic for simply saying this: "I cannot fellowship with anyone who disagrees with my theology."

Only a heretic divides the Body of Christ over differences in theology.

The irony, of course, is that people do this all the time. Hardly a day goes by on Facebook where someone doesn't say exactly this - "I cannot fellowship with anyone who disagrees with my theology" - and usually in the process that same person will accuse those who disagree with them of being heretics.

But the only heretic is the one who divides the Body of Christ - even if they are technically correct in their theology.

So, please don't be a heretic. Don't divide the Body of Christ over your own views of scripture. Don't insist that everyone must agree with you on ever single point before you'll accept them into your fellowship.

Our unity is in Christ.

-kg

LISTEN: Episode 01 of The Heretic Happy Hour: "Heresy Is In The Eye of the Beholder"

On iTunes Here>

OR, listen on Podbean here>

The Deadly Sin of Tribalism

Our world is filled with violence. It’s all over the news. It’s in our own cities, and sometimes even in our own neighborhood, or family.

One of the root causes of violence in our world at large, however, stems from Tribalism. Throughout human history, acts of violence – war, genocide, terrorism – have all been done in the name of tribalism. One tribe vs the other tribe; one religion against another religion; one nation against another nation.

In his book, “In the Name of Identity:Violence and the Need to Belong”, Amin Maalouf documents the effects of tribalism on our world and how it leads to violence and conflict. The process is simple: I identify myself as being a member of this group [pick anything]. Because I am in this group, I see the need to protect others in my group, and I have a strong desire to help my group advance in power, popularity and influence.

This, at the most basic level, creates the “Us vs Them” mentality. From there, it is a short walk to violence and conflict against “those other people” who are not part of my tribe.

If my identity comes from being part of a certain tribe, then I rejoice when other tribes fail. I laugh when those other tribes lose. I cheer when our tribe wins. I demonize people from that other tribe as being stupid, or hateful, or evil. That makes my tribe seem better and their tribe seem worse. Very soon, I am joining in with those who rush to stop that other tribe from doing something we don’t like. Then we get aggressive in our tactics and before you know it, someone is throwing a rock or firing a weapon to give our tribe the advantage it deserves.

Jesus understood this. It’s why He told the Parable of the Good Samaritan to Jews who hated Samaritans and were asking Him to clarify who exactly was this “neighbor” they were commanded to love.

In our culture today it could very well be re-told as The Parable of the Good Homosexual, or “…the Good Muslim”, or “the Good Liberal Democrat”, etc.

Until we abandon our tribalism, we will never fully understand what Jesus was trying to tell us about what it means to live in His Kingdom.

Simply put, if we ever hope to love our neighbors, we have to be able to step outside of our tribe and see beyond our traditional group identity.

In the Body of Christ, there shouldn’t be any tribes at all.

This is why Paul did not allow the believers in Corinth to line up behind Peter, or Apollos, or even himself, to create little factions or tribes within their church.

“My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Peter”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” [1 Cor. 11-13]

The point Paul wants them to understand is quite simple: Don’t align yourself with anyone but Christ.

So, if it was wrong for those Corinthian Christians to divide against one another over a preference of Apostle, how in the world would it be acceptable for Christians today to divide against one another over allegiances to this Political Party or the other? Or to divide over this Political Candidate or another one?

Answer: It’s not acceptable.

"Is Christ divided?" Paul asks us. No, He is not.

Yet, today, Christians in America are especially divided over politics, and yes, over this Christian leader or that other one; over this doctrine or that denomination; and it ought not to be.

Now, just imagine what might happen if you could honestly strip away every label and scrap of tribal identity? What if you were not a Baptist, but simply someone who loved Jesus? What if you weren’t a Republican or a Democrat anymore, but simply a follower of Christ? What if you abandoned your identity as an American and saw yourself simply as a citizen in the Kingdom of God?

That is exactly what Paul wants us to grasp when he says:

“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” [Gal. 3:27-28]

Casting off our former identities is essential to unity. It's also essential to our mission, which is to love everyone - regardless of nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or otherwise. 

“But,” you might say, “isn’t being a Christian just another tribe to join?”

Maybe, but I am not convinced it has to be.

For example, you can find your identity in Christ without resorting to tribalism. You can see yourself as a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom without standing against another nation or kingdom, or religion.

Here’s why: Because being a member of the Body of Christ – by definition – is to be someone who does not use violence, or dominate others, or seek to put down other people, or take joy when others fail.

Remember: Jesus told us to love our enemies. That means we don’t hate them, we don’t seek to dominate them, and we certainly don’t kill them. (Would you kill someone you loved? Of course not.)

We must also remember that Jesus’ greatest command was that we would love one another as He has loved us.

Because love is our highest command, we hold tight to these facts about love:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” [1 Cor. 13:4-7]

So, whenever you see people who claim to follow Christ standing up to boast, or to be unkind, or to dishonor someone from another tribe, or to read out loud a list of their sins and failures, then you’re seeing someone who is still entangled in tribalism and still very, very far away from what it means to be “in Christ” and full of love for everyone.

Only a Republican can mock a Democrat. Only a Liberal can dishonor a Conservative. Only a Lutheran can scapegoat a Methodist. Only an American can insult a Mexican.

But a Christian – a person who is filled with the agape love of Jesus and transformed by His indwelling presence – cannot do any of those things.

Tribalism separates us. Denominationalism divides us. Politics split us into opposing factions. But Christ came to bring us together. He has given to us the Ministry of Reconciliation.

It’s time to renounce our Tribalism.

My only identity is in Christ. The rest of me died when I took up my cross to follow Him.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” [Galatians 2:20]

 -kg

The Miscellaneous Christians Of Orange County

The last thing I expected was to get into a debate over theology in the nursing home.

Our house church family was going from room to room at Fountain Care Assisted Living Center singing Christmas carols and praying for people as we'd done for the last four years. Already we'd had some amazing interactions with a few people who had broken down in tears as we prayed over them, or sang to them. A few had even gone beyond our expectations and brought us to tears as they shared their amazing testimony with us. But this room was different.

After we sang a few Christmas carols to the two men in the room one of them asked us about our church. One of the sisters with us responded, "We're just a group of Christians in Orange County who love Jesus."

The man bristled at the statement. "But what do you believe?"

I stepped forward to explain; "The main thing is that we love Jesus and we're following Him in our daily life," I said.

"But different people believe different things about Jesus," he countered.

"Yes, that's true," I said. "But as long as you follow Jesus and you're trying to obey His teachings in your actual life, that's all we're concerned about. The other issues are not as important to us."

His roommate responded, "So, you're non-denominational?"

I nodded, "Yes, I guess you could say that."

He turned back to his television and his friend continued the interrogation. "So, you're just a bunch of miscellaneous Christians, then?"

"Yes. We're a group of miscellaneous Christians who love Jesus and want to follow Him daily."

The man seemed disgusted at our lack of doctrinal purity. He stared at us for a second and then he said, "The Miscellaneous Christians of Orange County?"

I could tell that he was interested in knowing what we believed so that he could assess whether or not we were his brand of Christian based on a comparison of doctrines. He seemed very upset that he could not get us to play along. So, as nicely as possible, we all said, "Merry Christmas!" and backed out of their room.

Afterwards, we all met back at our home for hot chocolate, tea and Christmas cookies. As we reflected on the various people we met at Fountain Care that night, someone invariably brought up the confrontational exchange we had with the two men.

"I think we should call ourselves the Miscellaneous Christians of Orange County!" someone suggested and we all had a laugh. But I wonder if maybe we shouldn't stop and consider the title more seriously?

If we define Christianity as the practice of following Jesus daily, and if we understand that following Jesus means doing they things he said to do, then it makes perfect sense for our church - for every church - to identify themselves as "Miscellaneous Christians".

In other words, if we identify ourselves based on the doctrines we believe, then we either have to break fellowship with one another when those beliefs change, or we have to pretend that we still believe certain things (even if we don't anymore) to preserve fellowship with one another.

Is that what Jesus had in mind when he prayed that all of us would be one even as He and the Father are One? I don't think so. Denominationalism is man's idea, not God's. Everytime we align ourselves with belief systems and doctrines, we naturally (or unnaturally) exclude ourselves from the fellowship we are intended by our Lord Jesus to share with one another.

What does the bible say about unity? It says, "For you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

It does not say that we are all one in our doctrines, or in our denominations, or in our views of the end times or in our opinion about bible translations. Those things divide us, they do not unite us.

What unites us? What makes us one? What is the common denominator between every person in the Family of God? It's Jesus. If we love Him and if we are in daily relationship with Him, then we are in the Family of God. Those other issues are secondary.

So, maybe we should all consider ourselves "The Miscellaneous Christians" of our city? In the end, that's what we are anyway. Whether we meet in this building or in that living room or under that tree or in this gymnasium, we are still members of the Family of God and we are still brothers and sisters because of Jesus.

What do you think?

-kg