Should one’s end times’ views limit their unity with other Christian believers? Should churches and denominations spell out their particular end times’ theology, as a matter of their statement of faith? Should adherence to premillennialism, for instance, be considered a hallmark of the faith, a non-negotiable test of one’s submission to Christ?
Mark Dever doesn’t think so. In a recent sermon on Revelation, he commented:
I am suggesting that what you believe about the Millennium””how you interpret these thousand years””is not something that it is necessary for us to agree upon in order for us to have a congregation together. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed in John 17:21 that we Christians might be one. Of course, all true Christians are one in that we have his Spirit, we share his Spirit, we desire to live out that unity. But that unity is supposed to be evident as a testimony to the world around us.
Therefore, I conclude that we should end our cooperations together with other Christians, whether nearly (in a congregation) or more at length (in working together in missions and church planting and evangelism and building up in the ministry) only with the greatest of care, lest we rend the body of Christ, for whose unity he’s prayed and given himself. Therefore, I conclude that it is sin to divide the body of Christ””to divide the body that he prayed would be united.
Therefore, for us to conclude that we must agree on a certain view of alcohol or a certain view of schooling, or a certain view of meat sacrificed to idols, or a certain view of the Millennium, in order to have fellowship with one another is, I think, not only unnecessary for the body of Christ, but it is therefore unwarranted and, therefore, condemned by Scripture.
So if you’re a pastor and you’re listening to me, you understand me correctly if you think I’m saying you are in sin if you lead your congregation to have a statement of faith that requires a particular Millennial view. I do not understand why that has to be a matter of uniformity in order to have Christian unity in a local congregation.
I tend to agree with Dever’s assessment. I think a church could explain their preference, but to demand an end-times’ belief of any who would join with the church, seems too much. Of course there are Christian end times’ beliefs that are universally agreed upon. But I’m talking about your particular thoughts on when the rapture, or if a “rapture” will occur, and what kind of millennialism you hold to.
This is akin to baptism, but on that point Dever does draw the line of church fellowship tight. So would it would be reasonable for a church to draw their own lines on both baptism and eschatology, and yet admit they will fellowship in the gospel with all who carefully differ with them on these matters? Should baptism be more consequential than millennialist views? Which is more clear in Scripture?
I’m not sure I have all the answers here. Any thoughts? Others are hashing out these questions in the comments on the links below.
(HT: Justin Taylor, Ben Wright & Caleb Kolstad)
My thought coming from several years of dealing with this in the church I attend,(OPC), is that it should’nt be a requirement for membership but that it does cause problems. The reason for the problems in my opinion is that we are not just dealing with how things end or the thousand year reign, ones views in these things comes from the way they understand all of scpipture.
I guess I haven’t thought about official membership before, but I think (and heavily influenced by a speaker I met from New Zealand, but I’ve forgotten his name, so can’t credit him with the idea) that if you hold a belief that affects the way you pray, and how you live your life, then it is worth discussing, and try to come to agreement over.
Other things can be talked about in a more “academic” sense, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter as much if you are in agreement for those sorts of topics as the ones that do affect how you live your life.
Unfortunately(?), after thinking along these lines for a couple years, it seems to me that most things a person believes affects how he views God, how he prays, how he lives his life, and so this theory doesn’t really help much in terms of coming to unity on more important issues, and leaving the “less important” issues behind.
Doctrine is important, and people too often ignore differences in the interest of “peace” or not arguing, etc. I think that a healthy discussion should take place, and we shouldn’t overlook things to avoid disagreements in conversation.
Thanks for commenting guys, my weekend was incredibly busy. I added some more thoughts in my latest post where I found a quote by Lloyd-Jones on this issue. I can see where you’re coming from and this isn’t an easy thing. But I think there are ways to express your belief without making it a hill to die on when it comes to unity and separation.
What is the real “Lord’s Prayer” really all about?
Contrary to popular belief, the Lord’s prayer is not the prayer found in Matthew 6: 9-13 where it states: “This, then, is how you should pray: ” ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
This prayer is actually the “model prayer”, where Jesus was teaching us how we should pray. The Lord’s prayer is actually a prayer that Jesus himself prayed on behalf of the saints. This prayer can be found in the book of John, chapter 17:
Jesus Prays for Himself
1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6″I have revealed you[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13″I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify[b] them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20″My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24″Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25″Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
In this, The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus’ primary concerns are that:
1. God will be glorified and that He will be glorified through the Father.
2. God will protect and unite His disciples who are left behind after His death.
3. God will unite all believers as one through the son and through the Father.
Jesus’ primary concern for end time believers is that we be UNITED as one through Him and His Father. In order for us to carry out the mission of Heavenly Skyways, we must come together as one- just like Jesus and the Father are one. How in the world are Christians all over the world, going to come together in these perilous end times when the love of most (even Christians) is growing colder and colder? We must put away hatred, unforgiveness, lack of knowledge and wisdom, and disobedience and be about our Father’s business for the sake of His kingdom.
For more information about our Father’s business about which we need to be involved in these last days, visit http://www.heavenlyskyways.com.
I agree! For too long this issue has divided godly men, and it has basically led them to draw lines in the sand and call each other names. Unfortunately, this attitude then filters down from pastors and leaders to the people. I once attended a fundamentalist church and I was teaching through Daniel. I thought it would be helpful to give an overview of Post and A views, just so they knew that other people looked at these passages differently. I then asked why we don’t agree with these views? I was trying to get them to think about watershed issues that make us futurists, but instead they went into tirades about how these views are unbiblical that is why we don’t believe them. I don’t understand why people can’t see the complexity in the hermeneutical and theological issues involved in creating an eschatology. I’ve seen it in dispensational circles and reformed circles as well. Hopefully, humility will once again make its way into the church on complex issues such as end-times PHILOSOPHIES, baptism, women in the church, and origins!