Thoughts on Fellowship

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     The series of articles on the above topic nears its close. We will present the concluding one, God willing, in our next issue. In these articles we have humbly set forth our convictions. We have not sought to bind them on others. We respect and love those who have disagreed with the thoughts suggested. As we prepare to turn our attention to other matters we trust our readers have been stimulated to think, reason and discuss relative to this important matter. We begin herewith a summary of our views.

1. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are divided and torn into warring sects, and these defeat the purpose of our loving and absent King.
2. His will is that all who believe in Him should be one, and for this he prayed on the night before his death. The thing of paramount importance to Jesus as he faced Gethsemane and Golgotha was the unity of all who accepted him as the Messiah and God's Son.
3. Religious division and sectarian strife is not the normal condition of the body of Christ. Like the cancer in a physical body, it is a malignant growth, and an abnormal state. If medical researchists ever accept cancer as a normal condition they will cease to dedicate themselves to research dealing with its cause and cure, and we will be doomed. Likewise, if we accept sectarianism as the normal state, declare there is nothing to be done about it, and cease to labor to determine its cause and cure, we will be doomed to incessant warfare amongst believers, and none of us can be wholly guiltless.
4. Moved by a desire to help answer the prayer of our blessed Lord, we have sought to investigate again the subject of fellowship, and we have set forth our own findings in this series of articles. What we have suggested may help only if we do not accept these conclusions as final, but use them as foundations for future exploration and study.
5. The question of sectarian strife is a major one with many roots. There is no simple answer or solution. Casual and careless thinkers frequently demonstrate their immaturity by professing to have a glib answer to every problem. It is possible that over-simplification is one of our chief faults in reasoning. Certainly, it generally ignores the thinking of the other person, and his reasons for so thinking.
6. We have suggested that the issue of fellowship is confused because we now use the term in a sense in which it was not employed by the Holy Spirit. It is frequently equated with endorsement of another's position. But fellowship is a state or condition into which we are called by God through the gospel. Our entrance into that relationship which is described as being "in Christ" is contingent upon belief of one fact, and obedience to one act. That one fact is that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. The one act is immersion of such a penitent believer in

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   water. This act inducts one into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Such an one is added to the Lord's church, and is a member of the one body.
7. Unfortunately, and in opposition to the will of the Father, those who believe in our precious Lord are divided and scattered over the hills of sectarianism. They are kept apart, segregated, and separated by human creeds, interpretations, and opinions, which have been made tests of fellowship. To alleviate the abnormal condition we must eliminate these factors. We should guard against any future division among believers by resolving never to make anything a test of fellowship which God has not made a condition of salvation. This one principle accepted and adopted now, will guarantee that no other cleavage will ever occur among earnest believers in the Saviour.
8. The problem of offsetting divisions already in existence, some of which are of long standing, will not be so easy. The peacemakers will be called compromisers. Those who plead for unity of all believers, and are devoid of the party spirit, must be prepared to endure misrepresentation, abuse and false accusation. They must steel themselves against retaliation when their motives are judged as evil. They must never allow themselves to cease to love and pray for those who try to undermine and overthrow them. But the healing of schisms and breaches is so important to the work of God that it must be dearer than wealth, prestige, or even life itself. A restoration must be preceded by a reformation -- a change in attitude. The work can only go forward in love -- an all pervading love which knows no limit so far as humankind is concerned.
9. There must be a willingness to examine past acts which have resulted in division, and a readiness to admit mistakes. There must be a heart yearning for oneness, a fervent desire to see the will of God done on earth as it is in heaven. Division did not come over night. Unity will not be achieved in a day. Patience and forbearance are prime requisites. We must be willing to plant the seed; the increase will be given by God.
10. If it be true that all who have accepted Jesus as God's Son, and have been immersed by his authority, are children of God, and by this fact constitute a brotherhood, we can regard each other as brethren while we discuss our differences in humility, and seek a solution to our problems. We lose nothing by being kind, considerate and courteous toward those who disagree with us. A recognition of brotherhood is not evil. But we must want unity. We must wage peace as others wage war. Those who prefer to maintain the status quo will never answer the prayer of Jesus. We must be discontent to perpetuate human parties. We must sigh and cry for something better than what we have. We must pray for unity, then toil to achieve it. We must agonize in prayer, and bombard the ramparts of heaven night and day with our petitions.

     Above all, we must love every soul for whom Jesus died. The love of God must be shed abroad in our hearts. It must be the motivating principle of our lives. Then, regardless of what men may do unto us, we will triumph over hate and envy. We will serve those who would destroy us, help those who would ruin us, and do good unto all men. And this leaven will work, for it is the leaven of God. It is our only hope for survival. It is the key to future happiness and security. There is no other alternative. We must love all men or perish! We must find the way to oneness or we may miss the way to heaven! One thing essential to offsetting division is fairness and justice. The mind of an editor must not become our criterion of scripturality. Let those who disagree also be heard. Truth has nothing to fear by presenting both sides of an issue so that honest readers may study them side by side. Through equity and kindness we may be able to heal schisms of long standing. Every tendency toward unity of the Spirit should bring rejoicing. Love is the golden key to unlock for us the storehouse of God's grace. Let us make use of that key!