February 04, 2008
Consensus
Even with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, believers don’t always agree with one another. Nor do we have to agree on disputable matters. Thankfully we don’t have to have consensus before we worship and fellowship together. Some of today’s church leaders on the other hand, have set a different sort of standard by requiring consensus among themselves. Their wisdom seems to imply that once consensus is reached, their decisions have God’s stamp of approval. Any resistance to their consensus and they need only apply a liberal dose of Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (NIV)
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Gail;
-----Paul does tell us to agree with one another. Our denial of the instruction is both why the church has been so full of back biting, corruption, and murders from the second century to now. It is why there is so much turmoil at your church, and why the church I am attending experienced a heavy exodus. People do not want to agree with each other, they want to be agreed with. That is basic human nature, simple ego. It can be as innocent as counting on one’s own experience and insights, only, to reach conclusions and hold opinions. Or it can be as obnoxious as a deliberate determination to dominate and use others for selfish ambition. Either way, the results are the same.
-----Paul beseeched Euodia and Syntyche to agree with one another in the Lord. (Philip 4:2) He told the Corinthians to agree with one another so that there would be no divisions. (I Cor 1:10) We can see three distinctions in these two passages. Euodia’s and Syntyche’s agreement was to be in the Lord. In His character is truth, and upon truth there can be agreement. Therefore, for agreement to happen, there must be the humble willingness for one’s own perceptions to be modified by the truth. Much of the rancor that happens in churches happens because someone stands so soundly upon one Scripture that they overlook, deny, or outright pervert another. But the truth is a unified whole. The meaning of one Scripture will never distort or nullify the meaning of another. But they do restrict and define each other’s meanings. For example, Hebrews 13:17 that you quoted is restricted by Romans 14:1&2, there is no authority given elders over disputable matters; by Rom 15:2, the operation of their authority seeks to please the neighbor; by Phili 2:3 & 4, the perspective of their authority is not from selfish ambition or vein conceit, but is toward the interest of others; and the last I mention, but certainly not the last in the Word, by I Peter 5:2, their authority is by example and not by domination. Scripture functions as a whole unit, each passage acting to define others, and in turn being defined by others. An elder or preacher can not simply state, “This decision of mine is going to be the way it is because Hebrews 13:17 tells you to obey me!” That demands agreement in self, not in the Lord. The truth is single in meaning, and the more one hones the skill of finding truth, the better one becomes at agreement in the Lord. Leaders who lack such skill are obnoxious, and they should not be leaders.
-----Another distinction we see is that Paul told the Corinthians to agree with one another so that there would be no divisions. When there is no threat of division can there be disagreement? Romans 14, in fact, sets up the Scriptural latitude for disagreement. Paul tells the Romans not to judge one another regarding their differences, to each one be convinced about what they believe, and for everyone to keep what they believe about the differing matters between themselves and the Lord. He is in effect laying down the ground rules for disagreement. And the first rule he laid down was that nobody rules over disputable matters. Therefore, there would be no divisions.
-----But where disagreement will inevitably produce division, then there must be agreement. Division is so outside the nature and mind of Christ that it can be stated to be the nature and mind of Satan. It was Satan who set self up against others, and that is division. That is hate. Love is setting self up for others. That was Christ’s action and mind in this world. It was so counter to Satan’s that it laid self completely aside so that there could be unity between His own people and Himself (God). That is what the cross was, the imperative of self set aside. Even when His self was right, and those for whom He set it aside were wrong, that is what Christ did upon it, being our leader by example. And that is the cross we bear. We lay ourselves aside so there can be unity. And the true leader, having true authority (Heb 13:17) makes an example for us to do that (I Pet 5:2) by doing that. Therefore, where there is no threat of division, everyone can hold their own different convictions and hold one another in perfect unity, appreciating what each other is without pressure to conform to various other convictions. That is peace. But when there is the domineering mentality of “I am right and you are wrong,” when everyone is holding it, then it is time to fetch the crosses. All holding to the self will need some amount of crucifixion in order to hold each other. The first part of the self to be put to death must be that ambition for others to agree with the self.
-----Finally, in agreeing with one another is the admitting of imperfection. That is always the requirement for improvement and spiritual growth. It is the essence of the confession of sins to one another, the willingness to view the possibility that I might be wrong. Within that is the willingness to accept the possibility that you might be right. One must examine himself carefully, even his views of the Scripture. For although Scripture is perfect, our ability to understand it is not. Scripture is clear and defined with sharp, precise lines. It is we who are fuzzy and wavy around the edges. And it is in that fuzz and those waves that enough ground can be found for agreement. But the sufficient quantity of ground cannot come from just one party to the dispute. All must pitch in a little ground. All must demonstrate the mind of Christ, the thoughtfulness towards the other. For agreement is not found in one. Nor is it found in the other. Agreement is not some idea drug into the fray for required obedience. Agreement wells up from all in the dispute, a piece from this one, another piece from that one. Each piece comes from the best understandings of the Word humility might be able to consider. For each one of us has some understanding of the Word that is more accurate than that of another. And together our understandings of the Word total greater than they do apart. Therefore agreement is together.
-----Insisting upon the authority grab of Heb 13:17 as cut and severed from the Word destroys Christ’s ability to be head of His church by being head of each of His people. It destroys the unity of His church and sets within it a dragon’s heart of “agree with me.” No one person has the vision for the church. No group of people has the vision for the church. And as one person’s attempt to force his vision upon the church is a tyranny, one group’s insistence of their own determined way is a conspiracy. But God has not called us into tyranny or conspiracy. He has called us into unity of spirit, unity of love, recognition of each other, and agreement with each other.
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