MWR : Dance of unity

Last updated July 23.

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July 23, 2012 issue

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Tags: Editorial

Dance of unity

Pastors offer cure for ‘the ache in our hearts’

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Stressed by conflict and worried that congregations might leave, members of Western District Conference needed a word from the Lord July 6-8 in Oklahoma City. Two pastors brought it: God desires unity in the body of Christ.

What could be more obvious? And what could be more difficult?

The word from the pastors could apply to any group of Christians struggling with divisive issues.

For Western District Conference of Mennonite Church USA — and many other conferences and denominations — the issue of the day is homosexuality. And yet Christian unity should transcend this point of disagreement.

Eugene Thieszen, pastor of Herold Mennonite Church at Cordell, Okla., presented a theological key to unity in his Sunday morning sermon. In John 17, the weekend’s theme scripture, Jesus prays that his disciples will be one “as we are one.” “We,” in this case, means Father and Son — two-thirds of the Trinity. With the Holy Spirit completing it, the Trinity is a community of love, Thieszen said. It is the foundation of all oneness.

Thieszen described the relationship of the Father, Son and Spirit as a dance. At the center is love, because God is love. As we learn the Trinity’s dance steps, love binds us together — with God and with others.

Our best efforts to make unity happen may fail. But if we redirect our attention from striving with each other and simply learn to dance with the Trinity, we can’t help but create our own community of love.

In his two messages, Chuck Neufeld, conference minister of Illinois Mennonite Conference, suggested four questions as a test of unity:

Is Christ Lord?
Is Scripture authoritative?

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— Paul Schrag

Comments

It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error

- Dale Welty (jul 23 at 9:05 p.m.)
Unity with Christ is ABOVE unity with other humans. Because our sin divides us from Christ, we can not be unified with the Lord if we are un-repentant of our sin; willingly living in it. As Mr. Welty stated, "It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error." Our Denomination would do well to turn away from cultural influence and return to scripture as truth.

- Valerie Schlabach (jul 24 at 9:58 p.m.)
You say "a congregation that transfers to another area conference would retain an important bond by staying with the denomination". That statement should begin with an if. The denomination now is the sum of the conferences, and some churches may not feel comfortable with a denomination (MCUSA) which has decided to allow ministers to perform same sex ceremonies. Those churches, or maybe whole conferences may seek affiliations outside the denomination.

- John Gingrich (jul 25 at 10:01 a.m.)
It may be best to hear the voice that whatever divides Christ from even one lost sheep is enough to imperil the complacency the other 99.

- nd (jul 26 at 8:03 a.m.)
I think the real reason that leaders of the church worry about divisions in the church and having congregations leave is because it affects their financial bottom line and their loss of control over people. If it wasn’t homosexuality that is accused of splitting the church it would be some other issue as Anabaptist history shows. American Anabaptist history is rife with reasons and excuses to split. Sometimes it is best for members of the church to split as Barnabas and Paul discovered (Acts 15 37 - 39). I wish church leaders would stop using us members of the LGBTI community as their excuse to split, and simply see their real reasons are their egos, finances, and their inability to work together – peaceably.

- Erika Fels (jul 26 at 5:28 p.m.)
If unity in Christ and the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer is important to us, then we will need to have a more common understanding of who Jesus, the Christ is. There are various views among Mennonites which include trinitarian orthodoxy as well as many who could just as easily affirm a more unitarian and universalist understanding.

If unity in Christ is important, then Mennonites will seek not only oneness with other Mennonites, but also allow the Holy Spirit to bring reconciliation between us and those other Christian traditions that together form the Body of Christ.

- Gary Olsen-Hasek (jul 27 at 3:45 a.m.)

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