Doctrinal Controversy and Spiritual Unity

Introduction – As most of you probably know, new moons and calendar issues have become a growing concern in the church of God community. · Since some of us have had to deal with these issues in our congregations, I suggested that time be set aside at our regional conference to discuss how to handle them. · This sermon is a trial run for the part of my presentation that deals with spiritual unity. · What I will be presenting is not just my ideas, but points based on scriptural principles and supported by the administration.

SPS – This will not a doctrinal presentation about calendar calculation or whether new moons should be observed. · We have study papers that deal with those details. · Rather, I want to focus on how to deal with these and other issues that involve doctrinal differences in order to maintain peace and spiritual unity in our congregations. I believe that pursuing spiritual unity far transcends the importance of calendar issues. · So I have often commented, “Anything that divides God’s people is not good.” · Although I have also often said, “Doctrines are not divisive, people are divisive,” calendar issues are divisive geographically in the sense that they result in separation of God’s people due to members who go by a different calendar not meeting together with the main body of members to worship God on the same days. I believe that this problem was avoided in OT Israel by the provision God made for the Levites to determine the day of the new moons and blowing the trumpet to announce it to the entire nation, rather than leaving it up to each individual Israelite to make that determination. · Although I don’t mean to imply that the ministry is an exact counterpart of the Levitical priests, I believe that this offers a valid precedent for the church today.

· Instead of leaving it up to each member to calculate the new moons (and other calendar issues), the church makes that determination—in the case of UCG, by consensus of the doctrinal committee resulting from study and research by qualified individuals, rather than leaving the calculation up to each individual member by visual observation. · The crux of calendar issues seems to be questioning the authority of the Jews to change from visual observation to calculation. · I suggest that one major issue should be questioning the authority of members to decide calendar issues, which has no scriptural precedent. · We are dealing with a growing trend of independent thinkers, partly due to distrust of church authority following the WCG doctrinal deconstruction and subsequent problems in UCG involving authority figures and exposure to information (good and bad) on the Internet, and partly due to the positive change in our church culture that allows and encourages people to study and ask questions (which is a good thing). · Some members are more capable and zealous than others in their Bible study and research. · “If two people agree on everything, at least one of them is not thinking.”

· We have lost a lot of “thinking” people over the years, because of the “believe it or leave it” approach of our past church culture, combined with a lack of understanding and/or ability of those people to deal with doctrinal differences, combined with their lack of faith and patience, and trust in Jesus Christ to bring about doctrinal changes if/when needed. Matthew 24:48-49 48 "But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' 49 "and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards… · People were able to “grit their teeth” and “hold it together” when they thought they knew that it wouldn’t be long before their master returned, but when he delayed his coming beyond their expectations, their true colors came out. · Did this happen in our church culture? · “beat” = “wound” a figurative extension of meaning of tuptō 'to strike, to beat,' 19.1) to cause serious harm to, in a psychological sense - 'to harm, to injure'” (Louw-Nida lexicon). NKJ 1 Corinthians 8:12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound [tuptō]their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. · Context = improper approach toward doctrinal differences in a very divided congregation · Virtually no one left the church until the late 1960’s; since then it has been an ongoing trend.

· I believe that understanding how and why doctrinal differences have taken place is important in order to know how to deal with them. So how do we promote and maintain spiritual unity in the face of the current problem of calendar issues and other doctrinal differences? Unity is not the same as uniformity, just as compatibility between husband and wife is not the same as common interests. · Unity is the ability to get along with each other, uniformity is doing or believing the same thing. There is a difference between spiritual unity (the ability to get along with each other) and doctrinal unity (“unity of the faith”). · This can be proven by careful reading of Ephesians 4:3 “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” and Ephesians 4:13, which states the need to, “come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” · Jesus prayed for the spiritual unity among His disciples in all ages and made provisions for building and maintaining it within the church. John 17:20-21 20 ¶ " I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

NLT Ephesians 4:11-16 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. · We elders have been given gifts to help us preserve spiritual unity by equipping God’s people to do his work and edify the church on our journey toward doctrinal unity. · The whole body has a part in this process—including members on both sides of doctrinal issues.

NRS 1 Corinthians 8:1 ¶ Now concerning food sacrificed to idols [substitute calendar issues]: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. · Arrogance over doctrine can and does occur on all sides of doctrinal issues—even those whose understanding is correct. NKJ 1 Corinthians 8:2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. · This is a good antidote to arrogance over doctrine that help promote humility. NKJ 1 Corinthians 13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. NLT 1 Corinthians 13:9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even … prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! · Since Paul said, “We know in part…” where does that leave us? NKJ Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts. · Furthermore, only God is capable of judging the intent of everyone’s heart, which I believe is even more important to Him than being doctrinally correct. · “…in all such matters the Christian must use not only knowledge but also love. He must not only consider what is lawful for himself, but what would be best for others…. Without love there can be no true knowledge” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, comments on 1 Corinthians 8:1).

· “Nothing ought to be judged solely from the point of view of knowledge; everything ought to be judged from the point of view of love. The argument of the advanced Corinthians was that they knew better than to regard an idol as anything; their knowledge had taken them far past that. There is always a certain danger in knowledge. It tends to make a man arrogant and feel superior and look down unsympathetically on the man who is not as far advanced as himself. Knowledge which does that is not true knowledge. But the consciousness of intellectual superiority is a dangerous thing. Our conduct should always be guided not by the thought of our own superior knowledge, but by sympathetic and considerate love for our fellow man” (The Daily Study Bible by Barclay, comments on 1 Corinthians 8:1). Love is the foundation of spiritual unity, not just doctrinal agreement. Colossians 3:14 “…love … is the bond of perfection. NLT Colossians 3:14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

· The legacy of love that Denny Luker left us with is the spiritual foundation of how to deal with doctrinal differences. · “Love never fails!” (his last message to the council) NRS Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. · What does “bearing with one another” mean? · It means putting up with things we don’t like or don’t agree with in each other. · “Everybody’s somebody’s weirdo” (Murphy’s Law). · It means accepting them, not rejecting them, judging them or trying to “straighten them out.” · Our members need to be taught to do this. · Romans 14 offers the right approach toward doctrinal differences. · The controversy it addresses is whether or not to eat meat sacrificed to idols, but the same principles can be applied to other differences of belief and practice. NKJ Romans 14:1 ¶ Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. · “Don't criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours” (CEV). NLT Romans 14:2-3 For instance, one person believes it's all right to eat anything.

But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don't. And those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. Romans 14:12-13 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 ¶ Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way. · Those whose beliefs and practices differ also bear the responsibility to do all they can to avoid offense. NRS Romans 14:22 The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. · “keep it between yourself and God” (NLT). · This passage stresses that we all have the right to believe and live based on our own convictions, but that we also have the responsibility to avoid offense by keeping potentially controversial matters to ourselves and respect the rights of others whose beliefs and practices differ from ours.

Romans 14:17-20 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking [or calendar issues], but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food [or calendar issues]. · I have tried to keep our members focused on the weightier matters of the law and on the areas of agreement in doctrine and practice rather than on differences, emphasizing that we are a spiritual family whose unity is based on love for God and each other, not on doctrinal agreement. · This is not just an idealistic, pie-in-the-sky philosophic concept that won’t work. · (ex. Feast of Trumpets meal)

Conclusion – We live in challenging times that are likely to get worse as we near the end of the age and Satan intensifies his attacks on God’s people. We need to know how to deal with doctrinal differences, so I hope that these points will be helpful.