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>
