Martin Luther wrote about the "church fathers" in these words, "Though they said nothing decisive about justification by grace, yet at their death they believed in it. The worthy fathers lived better than they wrote." That last sentence is applicable to most of our brethren. Their practice is better than their unwritten creeds. Many secretly believe what I am writing about fellowship. They rejoice that I am saying it. They eagerly await the day when it will become the norm and they can exit from hiding and affirm the same truths which I express.
Others practice it and just as openly deny it. When they meet a brother, of whatever stripe, outside of their bailiwicks they are the very soul of courtesy and attention. They will climb up beside him on a stool at the local coffee shop and fraternize with him as if the two had no differences on earth. It is only when one is in the pulpit that he feels vulnerable and threatened and must take a hard-nosed position. The same warm and affable person when by himself becomes cold and indifferent when representing the last bastion of faithfulness, as he regards the church which pays him.
The day is coming when more and more brethren will begin to get their eyes open and will free themselves from the frightful bondage of the spirit which holds others aloof. What is now being said will be of such general acceptance that few will remember the need for saying it. There will be those who will hold on for a long time to the legalistic position. They will equate it with the faith once delivered. But one by one they will come to see it for what it is, a human tradition passed along to curse them by feuding fathers.
Tolbert Fanning, wrote far back in 1844, as follows: "What is the love of the brethren? Perhaps on no subject has the human heart been driven to greater extremes, than what is generally termed love of the brethren. The boundaries of each faction, are usually the limits of the love of the respective denominations; while the deep and abiding hatred of most religionists is limited only by the universe. Romanists love their own; Calvinists love Calvinists; Arminians love not all Arminians, but each Arminian sect rejoices in itself alone. Deep seated party prejudice is the 'love of God' in party religions. Baptists feel in their souls that they love Baptists, and hence fancy that this prejudice is the love of the brethren, and indubitable evidence of a passage from death unto life."
To this poignant statement might well be added in our generation the "Churches of Christ." It is well known that the brotherhood is restricted to those who agree upon certain things which have been elevated to a prominence they do not possess and are made tests of fellowship. Each group has its own brotherhood and there is no such thing as the "brotherhood." If deep seated party prejudice produced this state among those who are not of us, as enumerated by Brother Fanning, pray what produces it among us?
Alanson Wilcox in "A History of the Disciples of Christ in Ohio" relates that in 1804, Barton W. Stone made a trip to Meigs County, Ohio, for the purpose of immersing a Presbyterian preacher named William Caldwell. While there he accepted an invitation of the Separate Baptist Association to preach to them. He says: "The result was that they agreed to cast away their formularies and creeds, and take the Bible alone for their rule of faith and practice; to throw away the name Baptist and to accept the name "Christian," and to bury their Association, and to become one with us in the great work of Christian union. Then they marched to the stand where we were preaching, shouting the praises of God and proclaiming aloud what they had done. We met them, and embraced each other in Christian love."
That is beautiful and blessed. But it could not happen today. Instead, these brethren would have been rebuked for being disorderly in meeting and would have been met with signed propositions demanding a debate. How have the righteous fallen and the faithful perished from among the children of men. We need to weep as we read these stirring tales of yesteryear from the pens of those who were so on fire for the unity of God's people that they allowed nothing to stand in the way.
In this current series which I am doing on fellowship, the koinonia of the disciples of our Lord, it is appropriate and important that we consider the related term koinonos, which designates the sharer or partaker. As William Barclay points out in "A New Testament Wordbook" this term in classical Greek means a companion, a partner, or a joint-owner. In secular usage it was a business term. In Luke 5:10 we are told that James and John were partners with Simon in a fishing enterprise. In the same sense Paul informed those who asked about the status of Titus that he was his partner (2 Cor. 8:23). When asking Philemon to receive back his runaway slave as a brother, the apostle says, "If you consider me a partner, receive him as myself" (verse 17). In the New Testament, therefore, the word is used of partnership in either secular or spiritual pursuits.
The Galilean fishermen who became ambassadors for the Christ would not need an explanation of what it meant to be a koinonos in the Lord. They understood its implication from the partnership of the fishing nets. They had been joined together by a common objective, they had mutually toiled and endured hardship, and had shared in prosperity and adversity, depending upon the size of the catch and the vagaries of the market.
When Paul seeks to enforce the point that those who eat the bread and drink the cup together are in fellowship, he cites an example. "Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?" (1 Cor. 10:18). A certain portion of some sacrifices was to be eaten by those qualified under the law. Those who thus ate were partners or sharers in the benefits and blessings derived from attendance upon the whole service centered about the altar. Paul extends his reasoning to show that one cannot be in partnership with the Lord and with demons at the same time (see verse 21). There is nothing in common between God and idols. One exists in the mind of the worshiper. The other exists independently. So there can be nothing in common between ourselves and both at the same time. "You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of demons."
We share with each other in Christ because He has shared His bounty and grace with us. We are not in the fellowship because of our attainments in wealth, power, prestige, wisdom or knowledge. They do not necessarily debar from fellowship, and neither do they enhance it. The mere fact that one may be worth a huge amount while another is in poverty will not affect their fellowship in Christ. It is not based upon that. The fact that one may be in a political office and the other a virtual unknown will not affect our fellowship in Christ. He received us both regardless of circumstances and brought us into the glorious fellowship. We were made partners, not through anything we did, or because of any accomplishment of our own, but because of the riches of His grace.
We are not in the fellowship because we understand everything alike, or because we have reached a certain stage of spiritual development. We did not come into the fellowship by making an "A" on a test on doctrinal matters, or by passing a test. The fact is that we are in all sorts of developmental stages from lisping babes to mature men. Even those who are mature have much yet to learn. The fact is that we will never pass beyond the disciple stage in this life. "The brotherhood we are told to love" (1 Peter 3:17) does not consist merely of those who agree with us upon some controversial point such as Bible classes, colleges, individual cups, the pastor system, contribution baskets, long hair, or a manner of breaking the bread. There are those who would like to limit it to those who wear ties, have their hair cropped and have no beard. But they are schismatic and factional in their outlook. They suffer from restricted vision and spiritual astigmatism. "The brotherhood" of Christ stems from the fatherhood of God. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren because we have the same Father as himself. He said "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father" (John 20:17).
Every person on this earth who is a child of God is my brother. He is in "the brotherhood." When we talk of the brotherhood in such a manner as to exclude any of God's children we are sectarian. We are also ignorant. We reflect not upon the children but upon the Father when we deny their paternity. In an attempt to defend our own views we actually exclude God. Such a partisan usage of the term is quite frequent. It is promoted by factional leaders and editors. I regularly receive a number of journals and reports of those preachers who contribute news to them. All speak of work "in the brotherhood" but they do not speak as the Bible does. They do not mean the same thing by the term that the word means.
To one the brotherhood is limited to those who oppose classes, to another those who use fermented wine in the Lord's Supper, to another those who break the bread in a certain fashion, to another those who oppose orphan homes, to another those who object to individual cups, to another those who employ instrumental music, to another those who oppose its use.
It is a rather strange phenomenon that all of these various factions have a paper, and generally the editor and certain chosen cohorts in his favor, constitute the ruling hierarchy of each "brotherhood." Regardless of how you stand in the grace of God, if you do not continue in the good graces of the editor, you will be ruined and hounded out of the brotherhood. You must "walk the chalk line" and bow to the whim of the editor, or you will be "drummed out of the corps." Nothing is more certain than your falling into disgrace if you dare to oppose the pet project of "the powers that be." Why men will allow themselves to become so enslaved that they dare not think for themselves constitutes the anomaly of the ages.
Pressures are exerted to keep people "in line" and brain-washing methods are employed to stifle individual thinking and to confine men behind the "paper curtain." It has long been a question with me as to whether the schismatic spirit produces a faction which then creates an editorial mouthpiece, or whether an editor creates a faction "in his own likeness, and in his own image." But there is no denying that the sectarian spirit is so rife, and there are so many "brotherhoods" in existence, that the one thing which is unique in these days is a wholly unsectarian plea, and when brethren hear it they say like the ancient Athenians, "May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears" (Acts 17:19, 20).
It seems incredible that angels and archangels waited with such wonderment the birth of a little chiefly American party to save the church from the frightful error of teaching the word in Sunday Schools. Or, that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah to announce the advent of a kingdom whose great objective was the preservation of the world from the awesome tragedy of singing praises to God accompanied by an instrument. Even more astounding is it that Jesus, heralded by all of the prophets, introduced by a chorus of angels, and proclaimed throughout the world to every tribe, tongue and language, ended up reigning over a little problem filled group.
I am thrilled that I have been delivered from the "Mickey Mouse" mentality which kept me from being a koinonos with precious souls who love my Lord so much and seek to obey him to the full extent of their understanding. For years I thought the kingdom of heaven was an institution. I did not know it was a reign or rule and that everyone who enlisted under that sovereignty was a citizen. At that time it was composed mainly of those who lived in one section of our own country. There were few books and little knowledge. We were mainly ignorant in spite of our sincerity. We were hostile toward others, very suspicious, and always combative. But when Jesus struck the scales from my eyes, and removed the fetters from my heart, the kingdom expanded and the family grew larger.
Any group which forces you to believe something other than the great fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, as a condition of admission to their fellowship, has laid another foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. And that "something else" is the creed of that group, and the group constitutes a sect in the fair import of the term. And any group which establishes admission to brotherhood upon any other basis than the new birth is doing despite to the Spirit of grace, and opposing God's plan for the ages.
We are participants with God because we share in the divine nature. The very word koinonos is used in this connection. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4). Being partners in the divine nature brings us into intimate relationship with all who share in that nature. It effectively frees us from all the demands of the carnal human nature. We are no longer debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh. Sin has no dominion over us.
It also obligates us to use our faith as a foundation and upon it to build a life structure using as materials the "excellencies" which are enumerated. The new life is not static, stunted or stifled. We are to grow and glow. This indicates that when we are called to glory and virtue we are far from being spiritually perfect or intellectually mature. We are one in Him, not because of personal attainment but because of His grace.
Due to differences in early training, environment, and temperament, as well as variations in aptitudes, skills, and opportunities of study, there will be many things upon which we will disagree. These differences can be resolved if they need to be. There are some matters on which we may always differ, but they are of such little consequence as to warrant no particular effect upon us; there are others of a graver nature, but upon these we should bestow more abundant study and consultation. The whole problem is one of attitudes--toward God, His word, and each other. A recognition of kindred ties in Jesus will enable us to treat each other as brethren while we draw closer to Him and each other in our efforts.